Q: What attracted you to lighting as a profession?

A: Like many of my colleagues and friends in the industry, I discovered lighting by accident. I was enrolled in an Interior Design master’s program and quickly realized that it wasn’t for me. While trying to figure out my next move, my faculty advisor suggested I do an independent study related to lighting. My research led me to Nancy Clanton. I placed a call to her to learn more about the industry. Among the many things we talked about she mentioned the Lighting Research Center (LRC). A week later I received a call from Kit Cuttle, the Graduate Director at the LRC, inviting me to apply to their master’s degree in Lighting. Nancy took it upon herself to make that connection on my behalf for which I am forever grateful. During my time at the LRC, I discovered the breadth and depth of light and decided that lighting would be the home for my ever-wondering mind. 

Q: What do you wish people knew about lighting? 

A: I don’t know that I can offer anything profound that hasn’t been said already about lighting. The act of using light as our medium to make a difference in the lives of people is a privilege. The fact that we can make a living using light when most people don’t even notice it is remarkable. We all know this. My hope is that we don’t take these gifts for granted.  

Q: What do you do when you aren't working? 

A: A random post-pandemic discovery was Groundwork Ranch in Louisville, a non-profit organization that provides equine-assisted learning programs for at-risk teens and foster/kinship parents of traumatized children. I have been volunteering with them for two years taking care of their horses, assisting with their training programs, and as a board member. The work they do is inspiring, but the time spent with these majestic animals is as profound an experience to me as light has been all these years. 

Q: If you could change one thing in our industry, what would it be?  

A: I wish I had a magic wand to suspend the industry in time and have us collectively witness from the outside in our current endeavors. We would see an awful lot of good. I suspect that we would also see many things that we could do better. The technology race should not be just that, a race to exchange old technology while disregarding lighting quality, or a race to illuminate anything and everything because we are saving energy, or a race to see who champions AI first without understanding the unforeseen consequences that it may unleash. We, the constituents of this industry, must clearly and unapologetically advocate for the appropriate and responsible use of light. We must also educate our work force along with other industry segments, which deal with lighting tangentially but exercise influence on both the visual and natural environments with little to no awareness of their impact.  

Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the lighting profession?

A: Before you learn about lighting learn about light. To grossly paraphrase my teachers from the LRC, if we are not learning to define light, see light, properly manipulate light, control light, play with light, be in awe of light…, lighting is just a cookie-cutter endeavor. We need not become experts on all matters of light, but we must endeavor to understand and appreciate what light is and can do.  

Q: What excites you about the lighting profession moving forward?

A: I am excited about the creativity all around us. Light is being used as a vehicle to enrich our lives in ways that were not possible before. As we continue to illuminate our cities and neighborhoods, I hope that we will use that same creativity to protect the living world while we sleep. The flora and fauna that thrive at night depend on it. The state of our knowledge and lighting technologies can help us accomplish the ‘do no harm’ maxim. The question is whether we have the will to do it.

SANDRA VÁSCONEZ

Sandra is a Teaching Professor in the Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. She teaches lighting courses with an emphasis on lighting application and design to Architectural Engineering and non-engineering students. Sandra has been at the helm of the Lighting Program at CU since 2007, is director of the Architectural Lighting graduate certificate for professionals, co-creator and co-director of the Rocky Mountain Lighting Academy, manages the Lighting Design Certificate offered to non-engineering students, and is faculty co-advisor of the CU Boulder IES Student Chapter. Sandra obtained her MS degree in Lighting from the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She worked at the LRC as adjunct faculty, teaching graduate-level lighting courses and working as program manager. She later earned an MA degree from the University of Denver in art history and museum studies. Besides her work and interests in lighting, she also has worked in museum exhibition design.

Q: What attracted you to lighting as a profession?

A: I have had a long love of photography and capturing light, shadow and contrast, but it was always a hobby.  Going through the Architectural Engineering program at the University of Colorado at Boulder and finding Illumination 1 and the lighting specific track is really what got me on my way.  I have always loved the fact that lighting design as a profession, you have to use the very technical, analytical side of your brain, while also using the fluid, creative and expressive side. 

Q: What do you wish people knew about lighting?

A: I wish more people knew just how powerful lighting can be.  I know a lot of people in the industry understand, but I do not think most people realize just how much lighting can affect your perception and experience in the built environment.  Lighting can be used to convey messages; help move people through space and overall enhance an experience.

Q: What do you do when you aren’t working? 

A: I spend lots of time with family, helping to raise two wonderful girls is the delight of my nights and weekends.  We love to go to the mountains, ski, snowboard, hike.  In addition, I am still very passionate about any kind of photography, and more recently really into drone photography.

Q: If you could change one thing in our industry, what would it be? 

A: I am sure it is a common answer, but I wish the transparency of pricing was more normalized in our industry.  It is frustrating to work hard with reps, manufacturers, contractors, and distributors to understand the budget, and design to the budget, to have to still fight every step of the way to maintain the integrity of the design and stay within the budget.

Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the lighting profession? 

A: Don’t lose the sense of wonder that you have when you first come into our industry.  There will always be meetings, budget, challenging clients that can bog you down, but really, we have the best jobs.  We get to work with some of the best architects in the world and be a part of some truly unique and awe-inspiring projects that people will use and enjoy for years.  Take time to go back and reflect on what you have done, and really appreciate the scale of what we get to work on, on a daily basis.

Q: What excites you about the lighting profession moving forward?

A: Architecture keeps advancing at such a fast pace.  Everyone wants to do something grander than the project before.  With advancements in software, collaboration across the country at our fingertips and even Artificial Intelligence being used to push the boundaries of creativity, it allows for us as lighting designers to have an even more interesting canvas to paint with moving forward.

RYAN LINTON

Ryan Linton is currently an Associate Lighting Designer at Illume / ME Engineers.  After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Architectural Engineering Program, Ryan worked at local rep CT Lighting in Denver working on applications / calculations.  In 2011, he moved from Colorado to Philadelphia, PA to work at Grenald Waldron Associates learning lighting design from some of the industry greats.  In 2014, Ryan moved back to Colorado and became a Lighting Designer at ME Engineers, where he has now been for the last eight and a half years.  In addition to lighting design, for the last 10 years he has been the owner of RLI Photography that focuses on lighting and Architectural photography.

Q: What attracted you to lighting as a profession?

 A: When I was in college... I was in the middle of a different degree in chemical engineering and realized that is not what I wanted to do (become a pediatrician/ medicine, which is what many CHEM-Es do as a backup), but I did finish. I ended up exploring what I liked... which was design and that lead me to talk with professors in the architecture school. After many conversations, I realized it was far too right-brained for me… to which the professors said “…did you know there was an architectural engineering program within civil engineering?”.  I went on to take Illum 1 under Professor David DiLaura and became fascinated with light, the fact that it was physics, disguised in a more palatable way, was a surprise. I was hooked. I did an internship at Lighting Design Alliance where Chip Israel would occasionally show us what good and bad lighting looked like. All these experiences lead to the same conclusion that many in this industry appeal towards, which is the marrying of art and science… in the form of light, and what it does, and what it can create.

 Q: What do you wish people knew about lighting?

 A: I think those of us that are lighting purest and enthusiasts, recognize that there is nothing without light. And the fact there is an industry dedicated to bringing out the best of what light is to the world is of the utmost importance. Therefore, to appreciate the industry more… to have more respect for it within the construction industry.

 Q: What do you do when you aren’t working?

 A: Aside from my family, I sometimes joke that work has become my greatest hobby. I think when you feel compelled to “do” something… it is what you think about most. But – I’m an almost native, so the mountains are always calling when I get a chance. Travel has also been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life, being lucky to have experienced cultures from 28 countries and counting… I have conquered, 😊 all but one continent.

 Q: If you could change one thing in our industry, what would it be?

 A: The pricing game. It has ruined the integrity of true lighting design and the purpose of why lighting designers choose and purpose what they intend in their designs. Substations, race to the bottom on the pricing of products – these have all put a disdain on the integrity of light, and the way it is used to design.

 Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the lighting profession?

 A: Try it all. Don’t get stuck in one space... Gain perspective from all the different sides of the lighting industry that interest you, and you will gain an immense perspective that will perpetuate you, to give back, the best results in whatever area you end up in… that makes you the most excited, to go do what you want to do every day.

 Q: What excites you about the lighting profession moving forward?

 A: I feel fortunate to be in an environment where the ways that lighting can be used as a technology are immense. As that is the next evolution in light. To use light not just as a paintbrush to create a space – but to use the power of lighting to influence and affect the way we live and improve upon our daily lives.

SOHANA ARNI

Sohana Arni, LC, MIES has experience in a number of aspects of the lighting profession. From starting her career as specifying consulting engineer, to outside specification sales as a manufacturer rep, to custom lighting-fabrication sales and management, lighting designer, product /marketing manager for several Cooper Lighting architectural brands, to currently being a director of marketing and design – 3D printing at Cooper Lighting, she brings over 20 years of experience. One of her most significant roles was developing the first acoustic lighting product series for Cooper Lighting. This product series has earned eight awards and recognitions across multiple industries: Architect Magazine’s Spring 2019 Selection, Best of NeoCon Gold: Lighting and Hospitality, 2019 IES Progress Award selection, SSL Magazine 2019 Product Innovation Award winner, Architectural Products Magazine 2019/ 2020 Product Innovation Award winner, LED Magazine Finalist, and Good Design 2020. She also has 13+ patents on file or in process, and two Bachelor of Science degrees: in Chemical Engineering and Architectural Engineering (emphasis, Lighting) from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Q: What attracted you to lighting as a profession?

A: Like most people, I have found myself in awe of the beauty and mystery of light since childhood. Like many of us in the profession, it was inspirational educators, David DiLaura and Bob Davis for me, who gave traction to my simple observations by teaching that light can be described abstractly by math and used intentionally as part of the architectural design process. After entering the profession, my interested in lighting as a practice deepened with the help of mentors who taught me how to use daylighting to directly connect a building to its exterior environment. My path in lighting has not been linear but I am thankful to have found a profession that challenges me to continuously learn and allows me to work with purpose.

Q: What do you wish people knew about lighting?

A: We all have an intimate relationship with light whether a person is aware of it or not. More so, the practice of lighting is a valuable skill that takes time and dedication to acquire, and to practice it well is to better the human experience.

Q: What do you do when you aren’t working?

A: My favorite way to play is to ride bikes and hike in the Colorado mountains with my son and husband. 

Also, I’m inspired by sustainability and like to learn how things work, and these two interests aligned for me recently in a house build for the Solar Decathlon competition. This project allowed me to collaborate with amazing students and industry members outside of the classroom and finally understand how to flash a (quad-pane!) window, for one thing. 

Q: If you could change one thing in our industry, what would it be?

A: From the perspective of lighting education, we have an opportunity to adjust our curriculum to prepare students more fully for the current challenges of the practice. These challenges include how to design in response to our evolving understanding of how light affects physiology, how to appropriately use new technologies, and how to produce and implement lighting in ways that enhance the sustainability of the built environment. While the responses to these challenges will be built on fundamentals, the most successful solutions will require creative thought, new technical skills, and novel interdisciplinary teams. Lighting curriculum should therefore provide opportunities for students of any age to learn skills such as science and data literacy, tool development and use to predict specific effects of light over time, and how to collaborate broadly. I am excited to be part of the ongoing process of developing such educational pathways for both full-time students and professionals.

Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the lighting profession?

A: Something that I don’t always do but serves me well when I practice it is to take a growth mindset. Put in the form of advice, I would say to young professionals to have confidence in what you have learned and achieved, set goals for what you still need or want to learn, and enjoy the process of bridging the gap, over and over again for your whole career.

Q: What excites you about the lighting profession moving forward?

A: The young people I know who are interested in lighting is what excites me the most. I have the privilege to work with many students who surprise me with their depth of curiosity and creativity in their design solutions, and who ask discerning questions in their analysis. I truly look forward to seeing the results of their work in the world.

JENNIFER SCHEIB

Jennifer Scheib is an instructor in the Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Department. She teaches courses with an emphasis on illuminating engineering fundamentals to undergraduate and graduate Architectural Engineering students including Illumination I, Luminous Radiative Transfer, Daylighting, and Adaptive Lighting. She is co-advisor to the CU Boulder IES student chapter and Solar Decathlon team. Jennifer received Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Architectural Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her professional experience includes working with the Daylighting Analysis Group at Architectural Energy Corporation and supporting the Buildings Research Program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Q: What attracted you to lighting as a profession?

A: To be perfectly honest, it was the people – when I started in the Architectural Engineering program at University of Colorado in Boulder, I was fortunate enough to have both David DiLaura and Bob Davis as professors early on. I immediately and deeply felt their passion for lighting, and found myself taking every course I could on the subject.

Q: What do you wish people knew about lighting?

A: I wish more people could recognize the value of good lighting. Lighting is often on the front lines of VE efforts or design fee reductions, and that compromise can really end up negatively impacting the outcomes of a project.

Q: What do you do when you aren’t working?

A: During the winter, I’m an Eldora regular, taking my kids as often as I can. During other times of the year, I’m doing everything I can to be outside in the beautiful Colorado weather – kayaking, gardening, camping, and more.

Q: If you could change one thing in our industry, what would it be?

A: I would love it if the reach standards – LEED or WELL, for example – required a lighting professional.

Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the lighting profession?

A: Lighting is a small industry. Stay in touch with your college classmates and colleagues. You never know when those relationships will be important in your journey.

Q: What excites you about the lighting profession moving forward?

A: I think consumer-driven changes like the trend toward personally-controllable environments will definitely change how we light and, almost more importantly, how we control the light.

Darcie has worked in the lighting industry since 2005. She has been involved in the design and engineering of complex lighting and control systems for a wide range of project types, and her projects have been honored with a number of IES Awards of Merit. She is a specialist in advanced modeling, including energy savings predictions and occupant behavioral patterns, and has been a contributing author for whitepapers, lighting standards, and energy codes and prime author for multiple peer-reviewed journal articles. Darcie is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Colorado, a Professional Member of the International Association of Lighting Designers, a LEED Accredited Professional in Building Design and Construction, a WELL Accredited Professional, a past member of the Board of Directors of the International Dark-Sky Association, and an active member of the IES.

Q: What attracted you to lighting as a profession?

A: I was lucky enough to work with light as a medium from a young age in the theater. There was something about it that always fascinated me whether it was the contrast you could create in a space, the absence of light, or using gels to transform an environment. I was fortunate enough to discover Architectural engineering as a high school student and the rest is history, I've been hooked since!

Q: What do you wish people knew about lighting?

A: It can and will make you look good, feel good and enjoy the built environment - but that requires a design that starts with intent and finishes with a team that is cohesive.

Q: What do you do when you aren’t working?

A: I really enjoy landscape photography. There is something about waking up at 3AM to get to a spot so when the first light hits the horizon or the sky glows with color I'm there to experience it and capture the moment that may only last 5 minutes.

Q: If you could change one thing in our industry, what would it be?

A: A standard for quality. Too much of lighting whether it's design or manufacturing is subject to an opinion of "what's good" - With a set of minimum requirements it would help elevate those who are dedicated to the craft and rid our industry of some of the unwelcome problems that have popped up. Oh and transparent pricing!

Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the lighting profession?

A: Be vulnerable, let people know you are new and ask questions. The lighting community is one that very much cares for it's own and wants to help you! Also be patient, there is much to learn about lighting, the process of construction and how it all fits together.

Q: What excites you about the lighting profession moving forward?

A: The innovation. More so than ever lighting has "opportunity" written all over it. This industry has been around for 50 years yet very little has changed. It will be fun to watch new companies, new ideas and new tools emerge that once never exited but will soon dominate the industry.

Sam Koerbel is the founder of Lytei and a cheerleader for lighting. His energy and excitement echo that of his alma mater, The University of Colorado, where he won two Division 1 national championships as CHIP the mascot. Along with an architectural engineering degree focused on the art and science of light, he has a background in sales. His experience as a creative director and professional photographer inspired him to innovate and imagine. Each day he connects with thousands of lighting enthusiasts who learn on-demand with Lytei, a captivating hub that empowers light ideas.

Q: What attracted you to lighting as a profession?

A: I was attracted to lighting initially by inspirational individuals who had an honest passion and appreciation for the field and it’s challenges. After becoming more familiar with the topics I was simply fascinated by the blend of art and science that seemed to come together so elegantly. Lighting is the most intriguing combination of human factors, physics, and art that I have found. I figured that the depth and breadth of the topic would keep me interested for a long time.

Q: What do you wish people knew about lighting?

A: Mostly that there is a large amount of variance in the perception and experience of architectural lighting. The rules that we have developed over decades are best practices, but ultimately not laws of physics. Everything from the LED diodes, to the electronic drivers, to the paint colors in the space have variances and the tolerance stack of all these things can be quite significant. Thus we should aim to create great lighting experiences, not hold rigid to simulated metrics.

Q: What do you do when you aren’t working?

A: A loaded question. My daughter just turned 2 so I spend a lot of time and effort to do all the parenting things. My wife and I are big mountain bikers and that is currently my adrenaline activity of choice, I try to hit 100,000 feet of climbing on the bike per year. I’m also a fairly curious person so I spend a lot of time learning about new things, and like to build physical stuff as well so wood working, 3D printing, and electronics are all other hobbies. I used to be pretty involved in lighting industry non-profits like the local IES, and still try to stay as involved as I can with my free time.

Q: If you could change one thing in our industry, what would it be?

A: Firstly the broader construction industry could really benefit from being more patient and preemptive with requests in general. Buildings are very detailed and simultaneously also almost always unique in some aspect and I think as a society we have allowed our experiences ----- utilizing technology speed to influence our expectations of the design and construction process. Secondly I’d like to see building design implement some sort of versioning control similar to modern software engineering across the disciplines. I think BIM has the potential to do this but I don’t know if the capability is there yet.

Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the lighting profession?

A: Try to do what you love, creativity comes from passion, and work really hard in the early part of your career.

Q: What excites you about the lighting profession moving forward?

A: LEDs are pretty sweet, and they give us a lot of flexibility to try new things. That combined with mesh networking or distributed intelligence will bring a lot of capability for relatively low cost. Our continued exploration and research into human factors and building usage data should really bring a lot of value over the long run in lighting and building design as well. We’ve never had this robust capability to reflect and simulate our decisions before and really should be impactful over the next decade. I’m also really looking forward to working with a younger set of new thinkers at some point in the future.

I studied at the University of Colorado at Boulder in Architectural Engineering and Computer Science. After that I spent a couple of years at Lighting Design Alliance under Andy Powell doing contracted lighting design and worked on some very cool hospitality and exterior projects. After that I spent almost 10 years at Acuity in a small R&D group, developing advanced luminaire and technology concepts for a pretty broad application set. My main focuses there were optics, color, product design, and product architecture. Now at Visual Interest, a lighting rep, I focus mostly on data analytics, software, technology assessment, and education/research. Related to the lighting industry my interests include parametric design, measured datasets for photometric modeling, and lighting metric modeling. I like cool people and having thought-provoking discussions.

Q: What attracted you to lighting as a profession?

A: I was in the Architectural Engineering curriculum at CU Boulder and took the Illumination 1 class. This was the first time that I ever really actually thought about lighting. It’s all around us but most people never even notice it. It was amazing to open my eyes to lighting and what it does in a space. I also really love how it allows you to use both the left and right side of your brain to create beautiful as well as functional environments.

Q: What do you wish people knew about lighting?

A: I wish more people realized how much of a difference good lighting can make to a space. I think that this has made great strides with residential lighting becoming more popular from television shows on HGTV, or even ads for Home Depot that talk about improving lighting in your home.

Q: What do you do when you aren’t working?

A: I enjoy spending time with my family whether that is traveling to Disney Parks, hiking in the Colorado Mountains, or just hanging out at home with our dogs.

Q: If you could change one thing in our industry, what would it be?

A: Honestly, I would change the way that lighting fixtures are purchased. Those of us in the industry know how difficult this is for all parties involved. It would be great if the contractor could just go to Target and buy all the lights that were needed on a project.

Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the lighting profession?

A: Keep those creative juices flowing!! Understanding the fundamentals of lighting is important to create functional designs, but where the true fun in lighting comes out is with creative design. The advent of LED lighting and the tiny light sources that it creates allows for complete flexibility in both hiding light fixtures to create environments with lighting coming from all directions and locations, as well as providing a means for manufacturers to create some really over the top decorative lighting fixtures. Some of the stuff that’s available now is truly amazing.

Q: What excites you about the lighting profession moving forward?

A: There’s no question that LED lighting has changed the industry. I’m most excited to see how the designers continue to embrace this technology and think outside the box for creative designs that have never been done before. The potential impact of lighting on architectural designs is huge, let’s make the best of it every time!

Jon’s personal and professional passion has always been in architecture and the built environment, which eventually lead him to the Architectural Engineering program at the University of Colorado, Boulder. After taking his first lighting design class, he was hooked. Today, Jon has over 20 years of experience in the electrical engineering and lighting design fields, and cofounded AE Design in 2004. His passion for sustainably integrating lighting and electrical engineering into architecture has never waivered, and he is an Illuminating Engineering Society Member, Professional Engineer (Electrical), Commissioning Agent, and LEED AP BD+C

Q: What attracted you to lighting as a profession?

A: Theatre and concerts. My first arena concert was Blue Oyster Cult and I was hooked immediately. Initially as a career path, I wanted to be an LD in a regional theatre or opera company.

Q: What do you wish people knew about lighting?

A: Light has a deep and profound effect on all living species on the planet. “It’s just lighting, right?”

Q: What do you do when you aren’t working?

A: I have discovered a natural synergy between distance running and cooking and I enjoy both of them immensely.

Q: If you could change one thing in our industry, what would it be?

A: Only one? I wish that the people who controlled project budgets understood the effects I alluded to above on the people that are going to use the space. Maybe then they would place as much or more value on the lighting system than the selection of materials and finishes.

Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the lighting profession?

A: Don’t just look, train your eyes to see.

Q: What excites you about the lighting profession moving forward?

A: I get excited when I think about what discoveries the young people in our profession are going to make. They are more courageous and willing to ask hard questions like, “what if?”

Gregg Adams has parlayed a BFA in Art into a full-time career in Lighting Design since 1990. Gregg joined BCER as Senior Lighting Designer in September 2017. Gregg is responsible for all phases of the work from business development to close out. Gregg provides expertise in specification of high performance, energy-aggressive integrated lighting and lighting control systems as well as project management and project leadership. Gregg’s project experience spans many sectors including complex programmatic office and educational space, transportation, streetscapes, bridges, industrial, and exhibits. In addition to his BFA, Gregg holds an MBA from the University of Denver. He is an Associate member of the International Association of Lighting Designers, holds the BD+C credential from USGBC, is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and sits on the IES Progress Report Committee.