LED designs

From Yenra

Announced May 5, 2009, Lighting design students considered glare, light distribution, and how best to present a quarter's worth of work to a panel of industry professionals as part of the LED (light-emitting diode) Luminaire Design Competition with the California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) at the University of California, Davis.

In January 2009, the 28 students enrolled in the "Designing with Light" studio course with Professor Michael Siminovitch at the CLTC designed, developed and prototyped a fully working LED-based lighting fixture. Products were donated by numerous industry sponsors including OSRAM Opto Semiconductors who supplied the LEDs for the project. From decorative wall sconces to exit lighting, the project provided a variety of opportunities to design unique and functional fixtures. Students explored fundamental concepts in lighting, materials, and aesthetically pleasing lighting systems.

After a series of presentations, a panel of judges from the CTLC and sponsors had the challenging task of evaluating the prototypes based on the creative use of LED technology, overall functionality and design. The top three designs, as well as two luminaries that received honorable mentions, are on display in Lightfair International 2009 in New York City.

The winners of the 2009 LED Luminaire Design Competition are 1st: Tieni Wu; 2nd: Jana Sharmir; 3rd: Amanda Radatz. Honorable mentions went to Jenny Zhouchen and Melina Prokopakis.

The sponsoring companies provided scholarships to the top three designers. Their contributions helped offset the costs of materials for the winning designs. Sponsors were: OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, Arrow Electronics, Tyco Electronics, OPTEK Technology, and Magtech Industries.