I’m all for self-cleaning, which is why this Apr. 19, 2013 news item on Azonano caught my attention,

“We’re always trying to create a cleaner environment for students and teachers in an effort to reduce absenteeism and the associated costs,” says Dr. Henry Kiernan, Superintendent with the Bellmore-Merrick School District in New York. “The NanoTouch® products provide an additional benefit of communicating our commitment, which plays an important role in our relationship with parents.”

Bellmore-Merrick has installed facility touch points, including door push pads and handle wraps, on all bathroom doors in an initial 5 high schools. Other schools have brought the portable NanoSeptic surfaces into the classroom in the form of snack mats and desk mats.

“The pre-school students were fascinated by the snack mats and what they did. The children focused intently on keeping their snacks on the mat,” says Bonny Phillips , teacher at Liberty Christian Academy’s Early Learning Center. “It also provided an additional opportunity for learning about cleanliness and food handling.”

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“Schools will continue to use one-time kill products like disinfectants, but NanoTouch enhances their cleaning efforts by working to eliminate even hard-to-kill microbes such as C. Diff, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” says Mark Sisson , co-founder of NanoTouch. “And because alcohol based hand sanitizers pose a risk of fire around kids, NanoTouch products help to fill that void in schools.”

In today’s world of shrinking budgets, it’s sometimes difficult for schools to find funding for advanced technologies like NanoTouch, even when these products are inexpensive. However, some innovative thinking by a community bank has led to several classrooms being equipped with NanoSeptic snack mats. SelectBank, headquartered in Forest, Virginia, donates snack mats to area pre-schools and day cares as a way to give back to their community.

“When we can help area schools and children, and get some positive recognition from parents, that’s good for our community and for our business,” says Sherri Sackett , Marketing Manager at SelectBank.

And the parents at these schools are enthusiastically embracing the use of this new nanotechnology.

“We were very excited to hear that our son’s school has started using this new product,” says Robert Thomas, parent of a student at the Blue Ridge Montessori School. “Not only is this creating a cleaner classroom environment for our child, but it’s doing so in a healthier way, without poisons or heavy metals. And it’s such a unique product line that the school is considering selling the travel kits as a fundraiser.”

“NanoTouch is out to make the world a better and healthier place to live, work, and play. This is particularly important for sensitive populations, such as our youth,” says NanoTouch co-founder, Dennis Hackemeyer. “And, what can’t be understated is the communications ability of NanoTouch products to educate and change behavior.'”

It’s unusual these days to see a company market a ‘nanotechnology’ product by incorporating nano into  product names (e.g., NanoSeptic) and the company name (NanoTouch).

The NanoTouch website does not offer information about its management team (I was not able to find either co-founder although it is possible to find a listing for the company’s advisory board) nor is there much information about the technology. Here’s the best technology description I could find on the website, from the NanoTouch NanoSeptic versus other antimicrobials page,

NanoTouch products utilize several complex components which all work together. Our specialized fabrication process not only provides products that are durable enough to withstand routine cleaning, but also helps to accentuate the effectiveness of the antimicrobial ingredients and maximize the surface’s self-cleaning action. Our products contain widely used, harmless, “green” chemistry, which does not include diluted poisons or heavy metals. The antimicrobial technology we deploy, molecularly bonded on a nano-scale, provides a non-leaching, self-cleaning surface that constantly traps and kills bacteria, viruses and fungi through a catalytic oxidation process using available light.

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All of these solutions approach the problem of bacteria, viruses and fungus by cleaning surfaces…which is absolutely necessary. NanoTouch is not meant to replace these methods, but instead, it is a perfect complement and another step in the reduction of germ transfer. While the these approaches clean a touchpoint or a person’s hand, contamination happens with the next contact or from airborne microbes. NanoTouch self-cleans…constantly killing bacteria, viruses and fungi.

I did find some details about the company co-founders on their respective  LinkedIn pages, Dennis Hackemeyer and Mark Sisson. Both men are associated with another company, KiteString, from the Our Approach page,

KiteString uses innovative technological solutions in the service of creative to achieve Marketing Relevance. Yes, we deliver traditional creative services like design, Web development, and direct mail, but we also provide technology-based marketing solutions and client service processes and systems that deliver measurably better operational efficiency, enhanced brand management, improved collaboration and greater marketing response rates.

I’m not sure what the KiteString description of their approach means but it looks like KiteString’s main activity is marketing. Anyway, that’s not so important given that my main interest is NanoTouch. For that matter, it would have been nice to have found more technical information. For example, How precisely is this product nanotechnology-enabled? Are there scientists working for or associated in some fashion with NanoTouch? What kind of testing has the product undergone? These are a few of the questions that leap to mind.