Prof. Simon Sunatori, P.Eng./ing., M.Eng. (Engineering Physics), F.N.A.
Address
Internet World-Wide Web Home Page URL
http://WWW.HyperInfo.CA/GS.Sunatori/
Internet E-mail Address
mailto:GS.Sunatori@HyperInfo.CA
Mail/Poste
65, des Parulines
Gatineau, QC
Canada J9A 1Z4
Coordinates/Coordonnées
45 26 00 N, 75 43 00 W
Time Zone/Fuseau Horaire
UTC - 05:00:00,0
Telephone/Téléphone
+1-819-595-9210
Facsimile/Facsimile
+1-425-984-7292
Nomination Form completely filled out including required signatures.
A brief biographical sketch of the nominee including education, employment and other activities.
Mr. Go Simon Sunatori, P.Eng., M.Eng., DTech.c, RD.c, FEC.c, FEIC.c, FNA, IEEE-LSM, WFS-LM, BNR/NT, was born in 1959 (age 65) on planet Earth in the Milky Way galaxy.
As a Homo sapiens, he is a proud non-hyphenated Canadian citizen, and does not belong to any ethnic groups or cultural communities or tribes.
He obtained a Master of Engineering degree (Engineering Physics) from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, Canada in 1983.
He received many scholarships.
Being a polymath/multipotentialite, he enrolled in the Renaissance Doctorate (R.D.) programme at on-line New York College of Advanced Studies (NYCAS) in 2003.
As a Research Engineer, he worked at Northern Telecom Electronics Ltd. and at Bell-Northern Research Ltd. (now Nortel Networks) for universe years as a Member of the Scientific Staff (MSS).
He acted as Senior Integrated Circuit Designer for the CMOS Standard Cell Library, as Senior Design System Integrator for the GaAs Cell Library, and as UNIX Systems Administrator.
For his work and commitment, he earned a few awards.
In 1985, he created an on-line news, information and discussion forum (electronic bulletin board) and electronic voting called CM4NEWS/CM4POLL/BYLINE.
As an Entrepreneur/Infopreneur/Innovator, he founded HyperInfo Canada Inc. in 1989 to pursue Research and Development on Information Processing and Publishing Technology on the Information Superhighway as well as on Electro-Magnetic Technology Applications.
The company ran value-added Internet service with intelligent agents.
While serving as President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), he also functioned as Chief Designer/Engineer/Scientist/Technologist as well as Systems Administrator (Webmaster/Postmaster) and Publisher/Editor.
In 1995, he set up "HyperInfo Knowledge Power Centre" on the Internet World-Wide Web to offer Pay-For-Value On-Line Knowledge Services via E-commerce.
Some of the websites he created were nominated for Internet awards.
As a Creator/Maker, he won the Grand Prize of Innovation150 Canadian Life Hacks Contest in 2017, organised by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
As a Computer Programmer/Developer, he wrote UNIX and IBM mainframe software programmes, Apple Macintosh applications such as "HyperInfo Intelligent Knowledge Object Organisation System" and "Multi-Lingual Food Nutrition Knowledge Matrix", as well as CGI scripts.
As an Independent Inventor, he drafted more than universe solo pro se patent applications in many fields.
He submitted inventions to the U.S. Department of Defense for Combating Terrorism Technology Research, to NASA Create the Future Design Contest, etc.
Some of his inventions appeared on the @discovery.ca programme on the Discovery Channel.
He was nominated for several Manning Innovation Awards.
As a Marketer, he proposed "Statutes of Canada CD-ROM" to the Government of Canada in 1988.
He launched "1-900 Service: Internet Tips Line" with Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology in 1995.
He commercialised his inventions "MagneScribe™: A 3-in-1 Auto-Retractable Ballpoint Pen with an Ergonomic Cushion that Leonardo da Vinci would have loved to wear!" in 2006, and "Magic Spicer™: Self-Sealing Auto-Aligning Magnetically-Hanging Spice Dispenser with a Continuously-Variable Hole-Size Selector" in 2008.
He set up website Sunatori.com in order to distribute the products world-wide via E-commerce.
As a Scientist, he tried to defy Earnshaw's Theorem with heart-shaped magnetic flux lines in "Magnetically Suspended Flywheel System" in 2000.
In 2002, he proposed project NH3 Power Canada.
In 2005, he developed algorithms in "Competitive Events Statistical Analyser (CESA)".
He experimentally developed "PuckMeal™/PuckRepas™: Hockey-Puck Shape&Size No-Mess Meal Packed with Nutrition!" in 2006, and "Koreless Frozen Pizza™" in 2008.
He created "Double-Action 3-Terminal Sunatori Switch by Magnetic Force" in 2016.
As an Educator, he pioneered on-line multi-media web seminar/presentation/course format with QuickTime technology for Potentium: The Coaching Network™ in 1996.
He joined the Faculty of the New York College of Advanced Studies (100 % on-line) in 2002 as an Adjunct Professor.
He prepared college-level certification examinations.
He conceived and published educational software called "HyperGames Centre".
As a Patentologist, he did patent landscaping/mining, reviewed thousands of patents and rated them at UBM TechInsights, Inc. (now TechInsights Inc.) in Engineering, Research & Development where he joined in 2011 as a Systems Analyst.
He also created interactive software tools like "PatentReview.livecode" to process patent reviews.
In 2013, he founded hyper-IP to specialise in patent research service as an Intellectual Property Expert.
He won a plurality of Patexia Crowdsourced Contests for Patent Mining, Prior Art, Evidence of Use and Market Research.
He participated in IP Quest, Article One Partners (now RWS) and Unified Patents Crowdsourcing IP Research Contests and Studies as a human search engine.
As a Patent Engineer, he investigated Infringement and Validity, found Evidence of Use, and created Claim Charts for NextTechs Technologies, Dynamic IP Deals and TAEUS.
As a Consultant, he wrote numerous Research & Development proposals and provided technical solutions on many STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) subjects to companies and organisations via crowdsourcing and open innovation/innovability outlets like Big Idea Group, InnoCentive, Enel, NineSigma and TekScout.
He also did some freelance work via Elance, oDesk and Upwork.
As an Author/Blogger/Editor/Photographer/Publisher/Writer, he wrote "Towards a Better Corporation: The Legendary Years - Memorable Career Highlights (from 1983-09 to 1990-03)", an E-book "Take Control of Sudoku" in 2006 together with companion on-line facility "Exhaustive Matrix Generator".
He is a Member of the Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Life Member of the World Future Society (WFS), among others.
In 2001, he obtained une attestation délivrée par l'Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF).
In 2002, he became a Lifetime Fellow of the North American Academy of Arts and Sciences (NAAAS).
He has been listed on Wikipedia (often vandalised) and on Answers.com since 2005, and on Canadian Who's Who since 2008.
He has 3 + 1 children.
He leads a hyper-ecological minimalist/logicalist no-pet no-TV salt-less sugar-less cash-less lifestyle.
His core values are genuine substance over superficial appearance (function over form), and utopian and optimistic future of the Star Trek franchise.
He is a free spirit and an ultimate hipster, but a misfit in societies in the current world. He lives in hyperspace/cyberspace/cloud/metaverse with the mentality of ST:TNG.
He enjoys virtually visiting places in Google Maps Street View, watching AuroraMAX live feed, solving puzzles, cycling (mostly in Canada's Capital Region) in summer, and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing (mostly on Royal Ottawa Golf Course) in winter, as well as designing and building ice and snow structures for his kids.
He makes his own red wine from grape juice, makes yogurt, and grows and harvests Ginkgo biloba seeds for sale on eBay.com/eBay.ca.
Inspired by Soylent Green, he created hyper-nutritious Quinolent GREEN/ORANGE and eats them every day together with mega-dose of resveratrol-containing liquid.
He envisions living in a dome house and eventually in space.
In 1997, he underwent an Excimer Laser Eye Surgery (LASIK) to achieve 20/20 vision.
A complete description of the innovation, together with a one-page summary.
Germ Buster: Sanitary Single-Handle Water Faucet
A single-handle water faucet comprises a hollow base which mounts on the top-back portion of a sink, a valve assembly, a handle for controlling the flow rate of water and the temperature mix of water, a spout securely attached to the valve assembly and extending upwardly from the top end of the valve assembly, and a nozzle for discharging water. The handle is positioned below the nozzle so that the water discharged from the nozzle can be directed to the handle and sprayed onto the handle by hand in order to facilitate the cleaning of the handle during a handwash session. In one embodiment of the invention, the handle is axially and longitudinally rotatable. In another embodiment of the invention, the handle is pivotally movable.
This is a "Great idea; Why didn't I think about it?"-type invention!
The "Dear Abby" newspaper column ran a flurry of discussions about proper hygiene practices, especially the importance of clean hands as the No. 1 prevention against spread of infection in the home, in hospitals, in schools and in every workplace. The @discovery.ca programme on the Discovery Channel ran a segment on bacteria/microbes in public washrooms.
Even though hand-washing is the cornerstone of infection-control practice, there is a very serious loophole in hand-washing. Please consider the following. You have dirty hands with germs. You touch the handle of a water faucet to turn on the water. You wash your hands thoroughly with soap or detergent to eliminate any germs on your hands. By touching the water faucet to turn off the water, however, your hands get re-contaminated by the germs that were left on the handle. The germs subsequently contaminate the towel when you dry your hands, and the germs comfortably thrive and multiply there!
The "Germ Buster" water faucet invention applies to the kitchen and the lavatory for homes and public places, but not for the bath and shower. It represents a paradigm shift in sanitary faucets, without requiring electricity like the electronic water faucet with an infrared sensor, separate water flows, or a foot pedal.
The target market is residential, public and commercial (i.e., every household, school and hospital in the world). The channels of distribution would be both trade professionals and retail (e.g., Réno-Dépôt, Home Hardware, etc.).
If it is properly planned, designed and executed, the "Germ Buster" has a potential to become a global megahit.
The innovation is explained in detail in the diagrams that follow.
If the innovation is patented, provide a complete copy of the patent. If a patent has been applied for and has not yet been issued, include a complete copy of the patent application.
Specific information on the development of the innovation from concept through to a complete product or process.
There are many instances where it would be desirable to be able to easily wash the handle of a single-handle water faucet during a handwash session in order to remove contaminants such as chemicals, dirt, germs and microbes from the handle, and to avoid re-contamination by touching the handle at the end of a handwash session.
Both a push-button type self-closing water faucet and a foot-operated water faucet allow a person to wash his/her hands without touching the handle at the end of a handwash session. However, they generally do not have control over the timing of the water flow or the temperature mix of water.
An electronic water faucet with an infrared sensor for on/off control also allows a person to wash his/her hands without touching the handle at the end of a handwash session. However, it does not have control over the flow rate of water, and it requires an electrical power source.
The Germ Buster Faucet was conceived in 2000 as a plug-in replacement for an existing water faucet on a conventional sink in kitchens and lavatories.
A patent application was filed to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) in 2000.
A virtual prototype was built with a 3-dimensional modelling software application Meshwork on the Apple Macintosh computer.
A manufacturability assessment was conducted by Tom Robbins Design (Oakland, California, U.S.A.), the only custom faucet designer and builder in the world.
Licensing negotiations for mass-production are under way with plumbing manufacturers.
An outline of the successful commercialisation and marketing results of the innovation.
The target market is every household, school and hospital in the world. The expected market penetration after three years is 5 %. The expected number of units sold per year exceeds 1 000 000.
The expected manufacturing cost is about $20 USD, and the expected retail price per unit is less than $100 USD. The invention can be produced with existing equipment.
The Germ Buster Faucet website on the Internet was established to commercialise and market the invention. The website includes a QuickTime movie to graphically explain the benefits of the innovation.
The Germ Buster Faucet was submitted to the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD (AT&L)) and Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office (CTTSO) Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) in response to a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Combating Terrorism Technology Research in Mission Area: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Countermeasures.
Health Canada, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were contacted for independent evaluation and consultation on public education.
A statement indicating the nature of the resources and the extent these resources were used in conceiving, developing and applying or marketing the innovation.
An Apple Macintosh computer and HyperCard software were used in conceiving ideas and documenting the innovation.
The Internet was used as the primary resource in patent search, literature review, and marketing the innovation.
A home-based workshop was used in developing prototypes, and applying the innovation.
The details on the involvement of other individuals in conceiving, developing and applying or marketing the innovation.
No other individuals are involved in conceiving and developing the innovation. The following company is involved in applying or marketing the innovation.
R-A-ONES CORPORATION
29, Hetherington Place
Brampton (Ontario)
CANADA L6S 5M8
Endorsements from individuals qualified to comment on the success of the innovation.
Lenius, Patricia (Pat)
Managing Editor
Supply House Times
1050 IL Route 83, Suite 200
Bensenville, IL 60106
U.S.A.
Simon, I believe what you are talking about is the wave of the future. Fewer and fewer people and companies will take such a short-sighted approach as the example you sent ("Germ prevention is out of our realm of expertise."). Concern about the spread of germs/bacteria will grow and eventually consumers will demand this type of product. That's how I see it. I'm also impressed that you're trying to make this type of product affordable.
For the kitchen sink: When I'm working in the kitchen, particularly when handling raw meat or raw eggs, I'm very concerned about touching the handles to turn on the water. It becomes quite a challenge to turn on the water to wash my hands without causing contamination. I try to use the backs of my hands or my wrist or arm which results in a rather contorted position and something of an inconvenience. This would certainly address that problem, although I would want to be sure to have anti-bacterial soap (which I do have) to clean the handle and my hands virtually simultaneously.
For the bathroom sink: Here the concern is spreading germs on the handles when someone in the household is sick or ensuring germ-free handles and surfaces when entertaining guests. But even everyday, spreading germs from normal life is an issue. Any home with a school-age child is constantly dealing with the threat of viruses and infection.
Juan, Reynaldo A.
Food Processing Specialist Inspector
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
401, Champagne Drive, Unit 1
Downsview (Ontario)
CANADA M3J 2C6
Assuming you have a dirty hand, you push down the handle to open and subsequently wash your hand, grab a soap, make suds and then wash the handle of any residue... continue with your hand washing and when done, PULL UP the handle to CLOSE. At this point the hand is cleaned and the handle is cleaned.
Also, please take this current practise into consideration: In hand washing, we put on the handle or grab a detergent and scrub and wash our hands. Either we rinse the handle or not. Then we grab a paper or cloth towel... to dry our hands. Finally, with the towel, we close the handle to off position... and throw away the paper towel or hang back the cloth towel. In this instance, the "cloth towel" is contaminated because the dirty handle is not washed. THIS IS WHERE THE GERM BUSTER IS USEFUL... in the process of washing, the handle is washed and cleaned. Therefore, the towels are kept clean.
Dr. Garwin, Richard L.
Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations
IBM Fellow Emeritus at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Chair of the Arms Control and Nonproliferation Board for the Department of State
Adjunct Professor of Physics at Columbia University
Member of the National Academy of Science
Member of the National Engineering
Member of the Institute of Medicine
Scarsdale, New York
U.S.A.
Such a faucet should be useful in hospitals or physicians' offices.
Hoeptner, Herb
Professional Inventor
Hoeptner Perfected Products
Gilroy, California
U.S.A.
Personally, I think Simon's idea is rather cleaver in the fact that it is novel, simplistic thinking, something many inventors are lacking.
Nagle, John
Software Engineer
Iguana Entertainment
Austin, Texas
U.S.A.
If I can offer some constructive comments: Fundamentally, the idea is good; that is, the act of turning off a faucet should not contaminate your hands with bacteria. I agree, I'm really fussy about that myself.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
1600, Clifton Road
Atlanta, Georgia 30333
U.S.A.
The CDC has identified handwashing as "the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection". Unfortunately, in spite of all the studies about the benefits of handwashing, improper or infrequent handwashing continues to be a major factor in the spread of disease.
A statement of the economic and/or social benefits to Canada, resulting from the successful commercialisation of the innovation.
Because the Germ Buster Faucet enables easy washing of the handle of a single-handle water faucet during a handwash session in order to remove contaminants such as chemicals, dirt, germs and microbes from the handle, and to avoid re-contamination by touching the handle at the end of a handwash session, positive health benefits extend to clinics and hospitals in the health care sector in Canada.
Because the Germ Buster Faucet reduces the consumption of water, the consumption of paper towels and the cleaning frequency of cloth towels without requiring electricity, there are significant environmental benefits to Canada.
The Germ Buster Faucet should be promoted world-wide as a unique and viable Canadian solution to help reduce greenhouse gas emission in order to meet the commitment of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
If the Germ Buster Faucet is mass-produced in Canada, then there will be positive economic benefits to Canada, especially with an immense export potential.
If available, a sample of the product or a video illustrating its operation may provide a clearer understanding of the innovation.
A QuickTime movie of the virtual prototype is available at the following website URL.
[Q] Many scientists with Ph.D. say: "Germs are good for you."
[A] The CDC (Centers For Disease Control) has stated that hand washing is "the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection.", yet in spite of all the studies about the benefits of handwashing, improper or infrequent handwashing continues to be a major factor in the spread of disease.
[Q] Many doctors with M.D.'s would probably agree with those Ph.D.'s. When I take my spouse to the local Clinic, for example, I see doctors rushing from room to room examining patients at breakneck speed but I don't see them washing their hands in between examinations. Here I go again acting like the kid telling the Emperor that he has no clothes, but who is in a better position than a doctor who does not wash his hands to spread disease?
[A] Indeed, it would be difficult to get "those people" to use it! Here is an excellent article about the largest challenge in infection control by doctors today (21st century).
In the late 1840's Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was an assistant in the maternity wards in Vienna. There he observed that the mortality rate in delivery rooms staffed by medical personnel was over 3 times the mortality rate when staffed by midwives! Semmelweis observed that personnel would come directly from surgery or doing an autopsy to deliver a baby. And without washing their hands. But the mid-wives hands were being used in handling the cleaning cloths resulting cleaner hands was his guess. He ordered the doctors and staff to wash their hands in a chlorinated solution and the mortality rate dropped to less than one percent - the lowest rate in Europe at the time!
Despite his successes, the practice was not adopted among his peers at the time (in fact, it is STILL poorly practiced by doctors today... ask any infection control nurse what is the largest challenge faced today!) Ironically, Dr. Semmelweis died in 1865 of sepsis with his ideas of handwashing still being ridiculed.
In 1870's, a hospital in France called the House of Crime because of the alarming rate of mothers dying during childbirth. In 1879 at a seminar at the Academy of Medicine a noted speaker was lecturing on the fallacy of all "that talk about handwashing". An outraged member of the audience spoke out to the speaker that doctors were killing the mothers due to their lack of handwashing. That man was Louis Pasteur, who along with Robert Koch discovered and proved the existence of bacteria and the theory of disease.
[Q] What is the mechanism of secondary hand contamination in a washroom?
[A] If you had small kids, you would most probably notice that the faucet handle frequently becomes dirty with mud or possibly even excrement. The cloth towel in your washroom quickly becomes soiled because the dirt gets transferred from the handle back to the kids's hands on to the cloth towel. God knows how many germs are happily multiplying on the cloth towel because they are invisible to your naked eyes.
[Q] What is the mechanism of secondary hand contamination in a kitchen?
[A] If you touch beef or chicken to cut the meat in the kitchen, E. coli or Salmonella, respectively, get on to your hand. The bacteria will be transferred to the faucet handle, then to your hand again when you touch the handle to turn off the water. The bacteria do not live very long on a metal surface, but long enough to enjoy the ride back to your hands and on to the cloth towel to multiply.
[Q] How does the Germ Buster Faucet prevent secondary hand contamination?
[A] The germs that may grow on a constantly moist handle of the Germ Buster Faucet will automatically be washed out during a hand-washing session. The Germ Buster Faucet prevents germs to grow on a moist cloth towel because there is no residual germs on your hands after a hand-washing session. The Germ Buster Faucet allows you to avoid using a paper towel to turn off the handle, reducing the consumption of water at the same time.
[Q] What biological and chemical agents does the Germ Buster Faucet keep away?
[A] I also expect to receive support from emerging biological threats like SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), West Nile virus (spreading rapidly in Canada and in the U.S.A.), Norwalk virus (outbreak in North America), Anthrax, Smallpox, Monkeypox, etc. There are chemical threats such as Sarin (used in Tokyo) and Ricin (recently discovered in London). I look forward to producing a TV infomercial to exploit this fear factor.
[Q] Fundamentally, the idea is good; that is, the act of turning off a faucet should not contaminate your hands with bacteria. I agree, I'm really fussy about that myself.
[A] Thank you for understanding the mechanism of secondary hand contamination. I cited Anthrax and West Nile Virus only to debate the issue of Ph.D. scientists and others who claim that "Germs are good for you" and the secondary hand contamination is "not a problem". Why don't they drink untreated water or have their children eat human excrement in the name of strengthening their immune system? Vaccines should be developed as a controlled intake of pathogen to prevent allergies and asthma, rather than playing Russian Roulette of avoiding/trivialising hand-washing.
[Q] "The germs that may grow on a constantly moist handle of the Germ Buster Faucet will automatically be washed out during a hand-washing session." The root of your argument for switching to your faucet is the line above. This is the statement that I'm most skeptical about. Technically, wouldn't the sink bowl and the drain pipe also be free of germs after a hand washing session by the "splashing water" argument? I may be wrong, but I don't really buy that.
[A] Mere splashing water does not eliminate germs, as you point out, but constantly running water going down with gravity does wash away germs. There are inherently fewer germs at the handle of the Germ Buster Faucet compared to the conventional faucet at little extra cost and no electricity is required.
[Q] I can't see how this improves upon sensor operated faucets or the mechanical ones where you push down and have about 15 seconds before the water flow shuts off. I also don't believe that germs won't grow on a constantly moist handle (prove me wrong!) and therefore, I wouldn't be too happy about having to touch the handle to get it to work.
[A] The sensor-operated faucets require electrical power, so you are forced to rip off the wall to connect to an electrical wire, if you can find one nearby. The mechanical ones where you push down and have about 15 seconds before the water flow shuts off do not have control over the flow rate of water. Neither sensor-operated faucets nor the mechanical ones have control over the temperature mix of hot/cold water, so they are not suitable in a kitchen where deadly bacteria like E. coli on beef or Salmonella on chicken and eggs may exist.
[Q] The question I would have as a consumer is what makes your design superior to the electronic sensor type or the foot-pedal actuated type?
[A] The Germ Buster Faucet is designed as a plug-in replacement for an existing water faucet (single-handle or double-handle) on a conventional sink in kitchens and lavatories, with full control over the flow rate of water and the temperature mix of water, unlike the alternatives. You can possibly install it in a do-it-yourself fashion. It will even work in a black-out situation with an electrical power failure.
[Q] Also, now that you've brought up the fact that the water temperature controls are under the water stream, it seems to me that I can burn myself trying to shut off the faucet if it becomes too hot.
[A] It may be difficult to notice in the QuickTime movie, but the handle of the Germ Buster Faucet is designed not to disturb the water flow by a few millimetre when there is no hand below the spout. Thus, you will not burn yourself trying to shut off the faucet as long as you approach the handle from the side. If you approach the handle from the front, you could feel the temperature while you control it, resulting in truly single-hand operation with reduced water consumption, leading to reduced electrical power consumption (hot water), leading to reduced greenhouse gas emission, and so on.
[Q] What kind of plumbing code problems does the Germ Buster Faucet pose?
[A] The moisture level of the Germ Buster Faucet would be identical to that of a conventional faucet after a hand-wash, as the handle is not wet all the time after use, and scrubbing the handle during hand-washing will make the surface germ free.
[Q] Here in our office building, we have long, pivoting levers to turn the water on/off with. I typically turn them on as normal, wash my hands, and then simply use the back of my wrist (with minimal contact) to turn them off.
[A] Not everybody uses the back of his/her wrist to turn off the water. Your technique indeed provides minimal contact, while the Germ Buster Faucet provides potentially zero risk.
[Q] This really isn't a problem in my kitchen. The handle on my faucet looks like the handle on the germbuster, (but obviously located above the spout.) When my hands are soiled I simply push up on the handle with the top of my wrist or forearm. I also have a spray bottle of antibacterial kitchen cleaner with bleach that I squirt on the sink and faucet when I decide its sanitary condition is suspect.
[A] Not everybody has your wisdom of pushing up on the faucet handle with the top of his/her wrist or forearm when his/her hands are soiled. The Germ Buster Faucet unnecessitates this process by making it natural to rinse the handle during hand-washing.
[Q] I believe what you call faucets we call taps. I come in with dirty hands I turn the tap on, dirtying it, and wash my hands, then I rinse my hands and the tap together. Then I turn off the clean tap with my clean hands.
[A] Not everybody has your wisdom of rinsing his/her hands and the tap together because it is unnatural to do so. The Germ Buster Faucet makes this process semi-automatic.
[Q] I would need to see a line to the effect of "independent lab tests show a X% reduction in residual germs" for me to consider your product under the "reduction in germs" sales pitch.
[A] Independent lab tests, preferably by government agencies (CDC, NIH, FDA, etc.), are being planned. Besides residual germs on the handle of the faucet, it would be very important to measure the quantity of germs in a moist cloth towel after a certain amount of time has passed from the hand-wiping to allow the germs to multiply.
