I was able to talk to Jason Gardiner, CEO of Kart Kleen Technologies, last week about the development of a mobile disinfecting unit that would allow students to clean their personal belongings before they entered the school. Along with company operations director, Jason Gardiner, Joe O’Bresley had their unit scientifically tested by Bill Holbein, a microbiology professor at the University of Montana. Ultraviolet rays at a specific wavelength, not found in sunlight, kills microorganisms, viruses, and bacteria at a 99.9% kill rate.
Jason said, “If I could truly have my way because of the safety of our kids in schools it would not be a Democratic matter or a Republican matter. It’s a community matter. It’s in the interest of what is the right thing to do. So, I would beg for a bipartisan effort to work on this in Montana. They can make three to five 5 a day at one manufacturing sights. The state does have a proposal on their desk for every school in Montana. “There is money still available through the CARES Act.”
Jason has been working on this for 15 years. On March 26, 2018, he applied for a patent. Last summer, they did the testing, so this was created long before COVID-19.
Jason moved to Missoula in April 2018, and while remodeling the house, a plumber came into his office and noticed the drawings of his idea. Jason told him what he was doing, and the plumber said he could build him one. So, the original unit was built in a garage. They took the original unit down to a national chain store and showed it to the manager. Standing in the parking lot, they discussed the idea. “There was a think tank function after the first model was built.” They went back to the drawing board. They started working on improving the model but had it to be tested. They were told,” science doesn’t lie.” In other words, they weren’t going to tell them it worked if it didn’t work. At the first initial testing, there was a 97% kill rate. They started looking for a case studying.
After the case study, they reached out to MMC Inc. in Belgrade to help manufacture it. Kris Kulbeck has a Mechanically Engineer degree and works for MMC, which built the system. Jason believes he found a phenomenal business partner in MMC. “Now there is more science, and we now have more engineered science. We now have a full production model.” It is close to getting FDA approval. “This will revolutionize the sanitization process. He has both national and international patents.
“I’m trying to do what I believe is the right thing to do. I believe that for whatever reason, God had a path; God had a plan. This is God’s work. I get a little emotional just thinking about it. It’s going to change history. It’s going to be magical. I love every part of it. I love this team. I just feel very blessed.”
