"Get involved! The skills you develop in extracurricular activities will serve you well no matter what you end up doing in your career."
Kunal Sethi
- Degree: Bachelor of Applied Science
- Grad year: 2017
- Program:
- Campus: Vancouver
Job: CEO and Co-founder or UVX Inc.
What does your company do?
UVX develops technology to help facilities reduce the risk of infection – from COVID-19, influenza and RSV to GI infections, including those caused by salmonella or E. coli. We’ve designed a small device, about the size of a smoke alarm, that emits safe UV light to disinfect a room’s surfaces and air in real time. The device can be monitored and controlled through an online dashboard.
Tell us about the evolution of your company.
During the early days of COVID there was a lot of attention on strategies to reduce infection rates. One thing led to another, and I realized that there was a significant need for a product like ours. I proposed the idea to my friend Saimir Sulaj, who is a technically brilliant UBC Electrical Engineering grad, and we decided to take the leap and start a company together.
We’ve developed the entire product in-house and are partnering with some other manufacturers to source different components.
We work closely with both UBC Medicine and UBC Engineering and are part of the entrepreneurship@UBC program.
I am actually a civil engineer by training and worked as a design and construction co-lead with Hatch for three-and-a-half years before launching UVX. You might expect that someone working on a product like this would have a background in mechanical, electrical or biomedical engineering, but I don’t!
However, engineering teaches you the fundamentals of math and physics and how to apply that knowledge in real-world applications. A few weeks after getting my Professional Engineer licence, I began working part time so I could focus on UVX and then I went full time with UVX in January 2021.
Had you always wanted to start a company?
My dad was a small business owner, which certainly inspired me. Somehow I thought I would have to do an MBA to become an entrepreneur, but I realize now that this is not the case.
UVX has benefited immensely from many people and organizations, including UBC.
Through entrepreneurship@UBC we have received mentorship and guidance from people who have built companies and understand the challenges of early-stage companies like ours.
UBC also has incredible resources right on campus, so if we have a question about the properties of a material or photonics, there are many profs who are more than happy to share their expertise.
Any highlights from your time at UBC?
To be honest, I wasn’t a top student. I certainly achieved the GPA needed to maintain my scholarship but I was also very active on campus.
I co-founded the Tanzania Heart Babies Project to raise funds for children undergoing heart surgery, was on the executive of the UBC Africa Business Forum and was involved with the UBC chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.
