LEDs & SSL Design

LEDs Magazine 40 Under 40 Profile: Drake Braski

July 24, 2020

Our youngest member of the 40 Under 40 Class has a UV startup and pursues many design concepts through 3-D printing.

DRAKE BRASKI. (Photo credit: Image courtesy of VentorLux.)

As our youngest member of the 40 Under 40 Class, Drake Braski wears multiple hats — co-founder, chief engineer, designer, and co-inventor of VentorLux’s Soulis line of continuous air-disinfection tools that use ultraviolet C-band (UV-C) LEDs to deactivate pathogens.

Braski’s SSL story began with his interests in automation, technology, and lighting as a young child. While in and out of hospitals with a rare kidney disease, he spent much of his early childhood tinkering with LEGO robotics and drawing out ideas for his own inventions. Now 19, he has leveraged modern additive manufacturing to realize creative uses for LEDs in robotics, vehicles, venue lighting, and most recently the battle against pathogens.

For four years, Braski has been rising early to build his SSL startup, VentorLux, before school. He also acts as chief engineer, prototyping with FFD and SLA 3-D printers for innovations such as UV-blocking baffling and a novel approach to cooling the Soulis system’s UV-C LEDs to make it safe for humans to be present while it disinfects air. He has continued to work diligently through the extended break during the COVID-19 pandemic, attending virtual classes, meeting with investors and medical professionals, and building product, while also printing more than 800 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) for first responders throughout the US.

Beyond his latest pursuit of novel solutions to disease mitigation, Braski has demonstrated a commitment to community spirit and creativity via designing exciting regional illumination displays, collecting donations for Habitat for Humanity, and encouraging STEM interest in children by teaching them about CAD software, electronics, and microcontrollers.

>> Visit the main page for LEDs Magazine 40 Under 40