Intelligent Lighting Institute in Top 7
Intelligent Lighting Institute Gets Thumbs Up From Fortune Magazine
The Intelligent Lighting Institute (ILI) is based at the campus of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands and is part of the Eindhoven *Brainport region. Along with the High Tech Campus, also known as ‘the smartest square kilometer in Europe’ it has been voted one of the top 7 locations in the world when it comes to opportunities for innovative start-up businesses. This was reported in the American magazine Fortune (and on the CNNMoney website) last month. The magazine’s claims are based primarily on its own survey of information in the Global Innovation Index: ‘The next Silicon Valley could well be in Eindhoven (*Brainport)’.
Focusing on lighting solutions
The TU/e Intelligent Lighting Institute (ILI) was established in 2010 to investigate novel intelligent lighting solutions that will become within our reach by the large-scale introduction of LED technology, with a special emphasis on how these new solutions might affect people. In addition ILI aims at providing scientific evidence for the claims that go with these novel lighting solutions.
“It was the perfect time to start a lighting institute. With our proactive, innovative approach, the *Brainport Region can become leading in lighting innovation – on a global scale, of course”
Emile Aarts
Scientific Program Director
Interdisciplinary cooperation
At the campus of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), researchers at ILI are developing new concepts for interactive lighting solutions, as well as the requisite technology. This often requires combining the resources of various disciplines at the university. The institute also consciously seeks to coordinate activities with the private and public sectors, which is a new dimension in the field of lighting innovation.
There are approximately fifty people working on ILI research programs at TU/e. These professors, postdocs, doctoral candidates and research assistants work in the departments of Applied Physics, Industrial Design, Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics & Computer Science and Architecture, Building & Planning. There are an additional fifty or so people from industry who work with ILI.
New light on the matter
Until recently, the scientific world tended to overlook the issue of how light affects people (perception of light). And yet, knowledge about this aspect of light can yield new insights, technologies, and applications. The lighting research performed at ILI is producing unique know-how and a technological head start for the participating parties, the Netherlands and the lighting community as a whole.
*Brainport Eindhoven Region is a powerful innovative player in a European and global context. It accounts for a third of all Dutch private R&D expenditure, invests 8% of the GDP on R&D and is one of Europe’s top three regions in terms of patent density. The economic success of Brainport Eindhoven Region is the result of unique cooperation among industry, research and government. This triple helix cooperation generates a very conducive climate for business, for both internationally renowned companies and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises in the region. These companies cooperate with each other and with knowledge institutes by sharing and multiplying knowledge in an open innovation environment before bringing their products to market.
Eindhoven Region is one of the seven cities and regions designated as “the best new cities for business innovation” by the American magazine Fortune. It won the title of ‘Smartest region in the world’ last year, and the presence of the Intelligent Lighting Institute and the High Tech Campus Eindhoven certainly support that title. Read the full article of Fortune magazine or the specific page about Brainport Eindhoven Region.
Written by Julie Allen
This article was originally published 12th October, 2012 on Lighting.com and is reprinted with their kind permission.
12 Jan