UVDL Device

CASE STUDY

UVDL — The 30-Second Savior of Drinks and Dignity

A husband-and-wife startup that turned restroom awkwardness into an innovation in hygiene.

WHERE IT BEGAN

Back in the height of the pandemic, "sanitize everything" was practically the world's slogan.

Amid that paranoia, a janitor named Kyieme noticed something strange: people—especially women—were bringing their drinks into public restrooms to avoid tampering.

But inside? There was nowhere clean to put them.

 

That's when the spark hit.

"What if you could safely lock your drink away—and sanitize it—while you were gone?"

The UV Drink Locker (UVDL) was born: a small, hygienic locker that uses UVC light to sterilize your drink in 30 seconds flat.

UVDL Product Showcase

THE EARLY VISION

When Kyieme and his wife Jenna reached out, they didn't bring a blueprint. They brought a problem and passion.

 

Their first prototype looked like something between a toaster oven and a miniature art sculpture—odd, compelling, and full of promise.

 

Our mission: keep that spark alive while making it manufacturable, safe, and downright elegant.

Engineering Process

ENGINEERING CLEAN DESIGN

We started with the internals:

 

  • Infrared sensors to detect presence and open the lid hands-free.
  • Servomotor controls for smooth retraction.
  • UVC LEDs tuned to the precise germ-killing wavelength—no overexposure, no ozone.

 

Each cycle was tested until the motion felt effortless.

Open. Place. Sanitize. Done.

 

Behind that simplicity were weeks of servo tuning, PCB debugging, and more coffee than anyone should drink.

PROTOTYPING THE IMPOSSIBLE

The shape was the hardest part.

 

It wasn't a box, not a cylinder—something between a home appliance and a sculpture.

 

We sculpted and re-sized dozens of CAD models until light, reflection, and airflow behaved in harmony.

 

Our workshop looked like an art studio one day and a UV testing lab the next.

 

Eventually, the final form emerged: compact, sleek, and intuitively touch-free.

CAD Design
Design Process
Final Design

FROM NAPKIN SKETCH TO FUNDED STARTUP

Once the prototype worked, Kyieme and Jenna pushed further.

 

They secured a $40,000 grant from NJIT, ran UV simulations in ANSYS, and fine-tuned LED arrays for consistent sterilization.

 

This was more than a gadget.

It was proof that hygiene can be stylish—that safety doesn't have to look sterile.

READY FOR THE WORLD

Today, the UVDL is gearing up for pilot manufacturing across bars, stadiums, and public restrooms.

The couple who started with duct tape and hope now run a funded, production-ready company.

 

And for us, this project reminded us why Twin Designs exists:

to take small, heartfelt ideas and turn them into elegant, working realities.

REFLECTION

The UVDL story is about empathy meeting engineering.

A janitor's observation became a safety product that might protect countless people—and it all began with a question no one else thought to ask.

Innovation doesn't always start in a lab.

Sometimes, it starts with a janitor watching over a drink.