An Albuquerque-based manufacturer of advanced lighting systems recently wrapped up a four-year study with a well-known Sandia National Laboratories scientist that it thinks can lead to more traction for one of its flagship technologies.
Bright Holdings LLC is the name of the Albuquerque startup, which was formed in 2020. It manufactures different types of patented LED light technologies.
One of those flagship technologies is a germicidal ultraviolet, or UV-C, light that filters airborne pathogens in various settings. To prove the efficacy of that technology, Bright started working with a scientist at Sandia National Laboratories through the New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) program — an initiative that pairs companies in the state with research at its two national laboratories.
That Sandia Labs scientist is Salvador Rodriguez, Ph.D., a researcher with nearly 40 years of experience studying areas that include computational fluid dynamics, advanced manufacturing and heat transfer. Rodriguez, in September, earned national recognition after being named Scientist of the Year at the 2023 Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference.
Together, Rodriguez and Bright created unique studies to analyze what the Sandia Labs scientist called "flow patterns" in different settings like hotel rooms. Specifically, Rodriguez conducted computational fluid dynamics models to show how particles move throughout the air.
Those models, in turn, helped show Bright how best to build and deploy its germicidal UV-C lighting systems, said Isaac Barbosa, the startup's co-founder and CEO. Bright claims its research with Rodriguez showed its air disinfection systems are 99.7% effective at killing airborne pathogens.
"We put those to the test and got a lot of very interesting results," Rodrigez said about Bright's technology. "[We] realized how best to reduce the pathogen count within the ambient, like offices, buildings and so forth."
The studies with Sandia Labs could help Bright grow and scale, Barbosa said. That's because the startup, he said, is now able to design its systems more efficiently so that they last longer.
As well, Barbosa said Bright now has access to a computer program that the startup can use to find exactly how much UV light is required to disinfect certain areas.
"For us, it was not only visualizations and patterns and coming up with strategic placements, but also analyzing, making sure that everything we did was safe and that we could come up with … a plan in order to move forward," Barbosa said.
That plan going forward includes installing disinfection systems at the Santa Ana Pueblo, in the Pueblo's senior and child care facilities, Barbosa said. The startup has also recently completed projects with Albuquerque's Bosque School and Cowboy Rx, a cannabis company based in Peralta, New Mexico.
"Riding the coattails" of Rodriguez's recent recognition, too, can help drive more traction for Bright, Barbosa said.
Barbosa has a couple of patents issued for LED driver circuits used in Bright's UV-C lighting systems.
"We have the patents on the power driver of the components itself and the way it's installed," Barbosa said. "So then really the only thing we were missing is having third-party verification. That's really what this offered for us."
Working with Sandia Labs through the NMSBA program also created opportunities for Bright to reach out to other local companies, like electricians or HVAC companies, to see if they'd be interested in similar studies, Barbosa added.
