David Shiller

  Researchers from the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a cutting-edge humidity sensing system capable of monitoring human behaviors in real-time through the detection of respiratory patterns. This innovative system combines a highly sensitive humidity sensor with a thermistor, micro-heater, and machine learning algorithms, achieving an impressive 96.2% accuracy [...]

Terry McGowan announced that he will be retiring as the Director of Engineering at the American Lighting Association (ALA). McGowan has had a distinguished 60-year career in the lighting industry, marked by innovation, education, and leadership. He began his career at GE Lighting, where he worked for 38 years in roles such as lighting application [...]

  When I entered Lutron’s booth at LEDucation, I expected to be overwhelmed by endlessly complex control options and a dizzying assortment of products and components. I was wrong. The Lutron booth was a master class in presenting highly technical and complex products in a simple to understand story. Some of the credit goes to [...]

  Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has spun off its laser-based internet company Taara from its “moonshot” incubator X, positioning it as an independent entity and a potential competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network. This move allows Taara to attract external funding and pursue more aggressive growth strategies. Taara employs free-space optical communication [...]

  The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) has released a new NLC-HVAC toolkit to improve collaboration between building operators, lighting professionals, and HVAC engineers. DLC claims integrating networked lighting controls (NLC) with HVAC can save over 20% of the whole building load. The toolkit helps building professionals: Understand the benefits of integrating Networked Lighting Controls (NLC) with [...]

An enjoyable surprise at LEDucation last week was the Avenue Lighting booth. This company has slowly transformed over the past 10 years from a basic residential lighting manufacturer into an innovative, decorative, specification-grade lighting manufacturer. Perhaps the most startling find was their Monaco Collection. This collection of pendants have medium-based sockets, but are delivered with [...]

  Another fascinating find at LEDucation, last week, were multiple manufacturers showing dual-bendable, solid silicone light strips. By dual-bendable, I mean it can bend in both dimensions perpendicular to the long linear run of the strip. Typically, bendable light strips were only bendable in one dimension perpendicular to the long linear run. Tivoli’s VAST-EX and [...]

  I rarely cover line extensions but this one was notable, at LEDucation, last week. The open-center, linear Aira pendant line by Current had a significant number of additional options at the show: 90 degree turns wall mounted light bar that connects to the Aira pendants. accent colors for the cross bars that match the [...]

At LEDucation, last week, a number of 3D printed luminaires went way beyond the visible horizontal layers of plastic shaped into simple pendants. Not only were the shapes far more creative, but on some there were none of the expected horizontal lines of plastic filament showing the build up of 3D printed layers. LightArt One [...]