Lighting Controls Podcast: Recent Episodes
Lighting Controls
Welcome to our podcast, where lighting controls specialists Ron Kuszmar and Webster Marsh discuss the intricacies and unique challenges of lighting controls in commercial applications
Mary Beth admittedly is not an expert on lighting controls, but when someone with her experience and knowledge of the lighting industry is in on the conversation, you should listen. Isn’t it interesting that Mary Beth, as someone from outside the controls section of the industry, has seen the same frustrations as insiders Webster and Ron? Perhaps people don’t know that behind color changing, color tuning, and video media, are lighting controls. Let’s get the word out! Mary Beth was the Manager of the GE Lighting Institute in Cleveland, Ohio for 18 years. She was responsible for the overall operation and curriculum development for this training and education center that hosted over 4000 visitors a year. She chaired the prestigious GE Edison Awards lighting design competition, and conducted weekly “Mondays @Noon” lighting webinars for customers. She worked in the GE Lighting business for almost 40 years holding a number of positions in lamp technology and marketing including: Lamp Development Engineer, Research Physicist, Senior Product and Application Specialist, and Manager of Lighting Education. Mary Beth holds BS and MS degrees in Physics and MBA from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. She is Lighting Certified (LC) by NCQLP (National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions). She served on the IES Board of Directors for five years, and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Lighting Bureau in 2018. She currently is an independent lighting consultant and is the current Chair of the National Lighting Bureau where she manages the NLB Tesla Awards™ for lighting design, the “Art and Science of Lighting” product awards, and the new Lighting Transformation Awards for retrofit projects. She is also a member of the Lighting Agora - a consortium of lighting experts that provide educational and marketing expertise to a broad range of clients. Connect with Mary Beth: http://lightingagora.com http://nlb.org linkedin.com/in/mary-beth-gotti-29094819 Financially supported by NAILD (www.naild.org) Presented by The Lighting Controls Association (lightingcontrolsassociation.org)
Kaleb is a Field Service Coordinator with ETC. What is a Field Project Coordinator you ask? Well, you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out, but suffice to say, it is a unique perspective on the industry. If you’re a designer, you’ll want Kaleb on your side. He doesn’t think you need to know “how the sausage is made” - that’s ETC’s job. Just tell him what you want and he and his team will figure out the electrical codes, the question of wired vs wireless and the challenges of interoperability. Kaleb Gottwald is a Field Project Coordinator at ETC. He supports ETC’s Architectural Sales team with projects across the country. Kaleb developed a long history of working on fun and complex architectural projects during his 15 years as a Systems Estimator. Kaleb is a native Wisconsinite which means when he is away from the office you can find him cheering on his favorite local sports teams (Go Packers, Bucks, Brewers, and Badgers!)
Can’t we all just get along? Specifiers, integrators, engineers, manufacturers, contractors, end-users… Bryan, with Webster and Ron, decries the lack of communication between entities. And it’s not just people. Where’s the cohesion between the different types of controllers, control platforms, fixtures, and connections? And then there’s the lack of education and standards. How can anyone be expected to design a system? That's why you should have Bryan on your project, he’ll work with you to find a solution, and he knows a lot! Bryan Lussier currently is a Systems Integrator for Barbizon of New England. For over 20 years Bryan has worked in the lighting industry as an entertainment and architectural lighting professional for distributors, manufacturers, and specifiers. Bryan began his career at the University of Massachusetts. After graduating he was hired as the Master Electrician at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art where he was responsible for both the theatrical and gallery lighting designs. He then earned his MFA in Lighting Design at the University of Florida. After which he was a member of IATSE Local 5 in Cincinnati and was Master Electrician on some national tours. Bryan is an award-winning lighting designer and has his LC, CLCP and is a member of the IES, IALD and is Vice-President for the Designers Lighting Forum of New England (DLFNE). Bryan also has a pending patent entitled Light Emitting Diode Sports Lighting Luminaire Assembly which describes how to best apply LED lighting sources in sports lighting applications.
Who’s responsible for the lighting controls on a project? Who’s qualified? Who’s certified? We can tell you this - Darren is qualified! He brings up some interesting questions and he talks with Webster and Ron about communications between teams, education, the future of lighting controls, and much more. Darren Lapsley is a Business Development and Specification Sales professional with Clarus Lighting + Controls. His career in lighting began in the United States Marine Corps as an avionics technician. Accelerated promotions led him to serve on the staff of retired Marine General and former Chief of Staff, John Francis Kelly. After over 20 years of honorable service, Darren worked as a Facility Engineer at General Motors Fort Wayne Assembly Plant where the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks are manufactured. His passion for lighting grew when he took a position as a Field Service Engineer and Regional Sales Engineer for a lighting controls company based in Indiana. Darren now serves as Membership Committee Chair for the Illuminating Engineering Society Detroit Section. He works to apply his knowledge of community building, complex social structures, and leadership to make a lasting impact on the home we leave behind for future generations.
Are you a landscape designer? A Contractor? Do you want to add “landscape lighting” to the services you provide? Then contact Justin and Zach at AMP. They’re shaking up the industry with their free design service. Send them pictures of your next landscape job and they’ll help you out. Listen to this episode to find out how they’ve partnered with Ring Doorbells to create some innovative controls. Justin Belz is an accomplished professional in the landscape lighting industry, currently serving as a Sr. AMP Specialist at AMP Landscape Lighting. With a diverse background in in-home sales, customer service, and low voltage contracting, Justin brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role. Zach Evensen is a seasoned professional in the landscape lighting industry, currently serving as the Sales Enablement Manager for AMP Lighting. With over 7 years of experience in the field, Zach possesses an in-depth understanding of the intricacies of landscape lighting and its vital role in enhancing outdoor spaces.
David Robinson from Mecho has learned to harness the sun! Well, sort of. More like Mecho uses the sun for light in buildings by applying just the right degree of window shading along with artificial lighting for the optimal comfort of building occupants. And it’s all done automatically with… controls! David Robinson is the Director of Automation at Mecho with over 30 years experience in the lighting and controls industry. He is responsible for developing the sales and marketing strategies of the automated PoE shading solutions with SolarTrac® and has delivered numerous papers informing the design community of the importance of the synergy between automated shades and automated lighting control systems in the delivery of Smart Sustainable Building designs. Financially supported by NAILD (www.naild.org) Presented by The Lighting Controls Association (lightingcontrolsassociation.org)
Ruth tells Webster and Ron how PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratories) has focused for years on solid state lighting research, but has now seen the value of controls and is now focusing on that. They’ve gone into the field to see what happens in real time. Ruth expected that the research would be about the technology but she discovered that it’s really about people, or, more to the point, the intersection of people and technology. You know if PNNL is looking at it, it’s going to grow in importance! Ruth Taylor currently serves as a program manager on the Advanced Lighting Team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where she manages the Next Generation Lighting Systems (NGLS) Program. NGLS uses “Living Labs” to conduct observational research in real-world settings—indoors at Parsons School of Design in New York City and outdoors at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia. NGLS is gathering valuable information on how systems are installed and configured, how well they perform, and how users operate them with the goal of identifying approaches that work, revealing needed improvements, and publishing findings for the benefit of the lighting community.
Check out Michal’s “Cadillac” - his Tron Dance Suits (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVt2OwMKiM8). How long does it take for him to make a custom suit? You'd be surprised! Listen to this week's episode where Michal chats with Webster and Ron about the challenges of attaching lights to suits then controlling them while dancers bounce around in those suits. Michal Pokluda has a background in mathematics, software development and computer graphics. He started as a laser show designer for small parties and discos. Later he found interest in developing laser show software and hardware. He is an author of Fiesta and Moncha laser show software produced by Showtacle Ltd. company. He is also one of the developers of LED Strip Studio pixel mapping software used for a variety of LED installations for TV, clubs, museums, or LED dance performances. He is now CEO of LED Strip Studio company, which produces pixel LED controllers and LED Strip Studio software.
In case you missed the live stream from Lightfair 2023 in New York, here is an encore presentation of the segment featuring Szymon Slupik. Simon talks with Webster and Ron about the latest in Bluetooth controls.
The stick is coming. Will HVAC controls become the dominant system, or will Lighting Controls pull ahead? Maury comes to us from the HVAC side of things but he thinks lighting has far more potential as an overall control system. Or perhaps AI will be the stick and replace it all! Maury is a tenured executive with 31 years of diversified experience in executive leadership, sales, marketing, sales management, business development, and operations/general management with demonstrated ability for business growth while managing costs. Areas of strength include change management, rebuilding and scaling businesses, and strategic leadership. He has been Vice President of Sales at Dorse and Company since 2021.
Nathan tells Webster and Ron about his experiences with a “touring house,” working with “dimmer beach,” and getting off the road to be home in the evenings. He successfully took his “show must go on” attitude from theater to architectural installations and is now a lighting controls field service engineer with over 16 years of controls experience. Throughout his career, he has held certifications with 11 different lighting controls manufacturers, and he also holds NALMCO’s CLCP and CSLT certifications along with Tridium’s Niagara AX certification. Nathan is the senior field service engineer at CW Lighting, a lighting fixtures and controls manufacturers’ rep firm that has been in the industry for 40 years. Nathan entered the lighting industry at 20, building upon his background in technical theater. He has earned a reputation for attention to detail, troubleshooting expertise, and excellent customer service, and he currently serves on the Wattstopper technician advisory council.
Patrick once worked in laser cutting sheet metal, then building recreational vehicles which eventually led to Syndesis, his company that creates solutions for integration. How? Well, you’ll have to listen to this podcast to find out. Webster and Ron talk with Patrick about efficiency, communication and “plug and play - without the plug!” Patrick P. Treadway is President and owner of Syndesis LLC. Pat opened Syndesis LLC in September 2020, to offer the Lighting industry a resource reflective of the diverse factors lighting, controls, and manufacturing companies face today. Syndesis brings Product Development, Product Management, Industrial Design, and Project Management expertise to its client's commercialization efforts.
With a guy like Steve Mesh, it’s hard to keep the discussion to an hour. In this episode, Webster taps into Steve’s vast knowledge of lighting controls to find out how he became a lighting controls specialist and what can be done now to formalize the education of lighting controls specialists. Steve knows so much that he is a much sought-after lecturer and teacher. Oh - and he can fly planes! Steve has been a lighting designer and educator for 42 years. He was the Senior Lighting Program Coordinator at the Pacific Energy Center in San Francisco from 2008-2011. Steve is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society and was the IES/Northeast Regional Vice President. He was also part of the development team for the California Advanced Lighting Controls Training Program. Steve has taught lighting for 38 years. He won an IALD award for the Palm House at Dowling College and an EPRI award for Brower Commons at Rutgers University. Since 1992, he has given several workshops at LightFair and has spoken at Lux Pacifica in New Delhi, India. He is also a private pilot.
IoT. What’s that? Internet Of Things. This is an emerging market. Yeah, it’s not exactly lighting controls, but it’s all becoming interconnected. Lights, HVAC, emergency, WiFi, elevators… even refrigerators are becoming connected. If you’re in controls, you might want to put “knowledge upgrading” on your radar. You can start by listening to Mike Skurla in this episode. As Chief Product Officer at Radix IoT, LLC–Michael Skurla helps consolidate global Marketing & Product Viability, focusing on forthcoming product strategy and intellectual property for markets including unique R&D initiatives, cloud/managed services, merger & acquisitions targets. Previously, as CTO, Skurla set product strategy. He has over two decades of experience in control automation and IoT product design with Fortune 500 companies, focusing on the intersection of software and hardware, emphasizing data aggregation and analytics for mission-critical industries.
Episode 5 - Ensuring A Good User Experience With Controls Are building owners and engineers still not seeing the benefits of lighting controls? Gary explains the reluctance to embrace the technology when the long term benefits are hard to weigh against the upfront costs. As Gary says, how do you compete against a 99 cent on/off switch? Education! (So spread the word on The Lighting Controls Podcast!) Gary Meshberg, LEED AP, LC, CLCP, IESNA is vice chair of the Lighting Controls Association and director of industry and market engagement for Digital Lumens/Encelium. A 32-year industry veteran, he previously served as director of marketing, VP of sales and specification business manager for major lighting manufacturers. He chairs the IES Lighting Commissioning Committee, previously served as past education chair for the Dallas IES Section and founded and served as chair of the Home Lighting Control Alliance
We’re really geeking out on this one. Steve Terry from ETC is all about codes and standards. Name a code in emergency lighting and Steve probably had a hand in shaping it. He chats with Webster and Ron about the history of lighting control and the confusion that can result from the complexity of ever-evolving standards. Steve Terry is currently the Director of Standards & Industry relations at ETC. From 2001-2017 he held various executive positions at ETC, including VP of Research & Development, where he led the team responsible for global product development.
Title 24, 2011…DDC Revolution…LP 16…OPR…Commissioning…LP 8, formerly DG 29… It’s enough to make your head spin. Lyn makes it all clear. She even states the exact measurement of a “crap-ton.” But seriously, you want to listen to this and tap into Lyn’s vast knowledge of standards and regulations. Lyn is an MEP Coordinator for DPR Construction. She uses her 20+ years of experience to start up and build quality into integrated systems for HVAC, electrical/lighting, control systems, fire protection, backup power, and technology. In her spare time (lol), she’s the chair for the update to DG-16 (the standard for lighting/controls commissioning), on the board of the Building Commissioning Association as well as co-chair of the annual conference, co-chair for the new standard on control sequences for lighting control systems (LP-16), teaches classes on lighting controls, and supports Techbridge, an afterschool STEM program.
Webster and Ron talk with Dan about how Toggled came to be, from TLED’s to dimming to entire building lighting controls. But with growth comes challenges. Dan and our hosts talk about retrofitting, ballasts/not-ballasts, bluetooth, data collection, cyber security, and even dealing with asbestos in an old building. Daniel Hollenkamp Jr. is responsible for Toggled’s day-to-day operations; he oversees sales, marketing, manufacturing, and research & development. Previously, Hollenkamp was Toggled’s lead manufacturing engineer, where he ramped up the company’s mass production efforts. He has more than 12 years of experience in electronics manufacturing and seven years of experience in the LED industry.
Welcome to The Lighting Controls Podcast, where we discuss all things lighting controls. Webster and Ron will be joined by various guests from the lighting industry. In this, our first episode of the new series, Webster and Ron look back at the Conversation Series and look ahead at the future of the new Lighting Controls Podcast.