Lighting Controls Podcast

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. J...

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 lighti...

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, t...

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 math...

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 m...

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...

If you missed Lightfair this year, you can watch this and feel like you're there. Webster and Ron visited the ETC, SGM, and Pharos booths. Also, check out the live broadcast with McWong at the end. Both Webster and Ron presented this year, but sorry, you had to be there to catch those. Make sure to attend Lightfair in 2 year. 

Caleb joins the controls conversation from the perspective of an Electrical Engineer. Caleb talks about the importance of documentation in a project. Getting everything right - and on paper - in the submittals will save everyone money and headaches. It’s all about communication! Caleb Thompson is an Electrical Design Engineer at DFW Consulting Group with 4 years experience in helping clients deter...

Time - something we all wish we had more of. Unfortunately, we only have 24 hours in a day to work with. Zach Mix and Parspec will make you feel like someone added hours to your day. They will take away the tedious work of looking up data sheets and part numbers with their machine learning and AI. And we all know what that means - saving money! Zach Mix leads Sales and Business Development for Par...

Tom is Sales Director for Pharos Controls, but as you’ll see in the video, he still likes to tinker. (You can’t see it, but he told us he’s surrounded by 23 computers in his attic!) So Tom is the perfect guest to talk about DMX, how its use is growing in the architectural world, and how Pharos is trying to make it easier to use for customers. But don’t discount DALI! Thomas joined Pharos in 2009 a...

“You have to get into the weeds,” says Jennifer Bean; lighting controls are so complicated now and there is so much coordination that needs to happen. The lighting designers, the controls specialists and the engineers all need to work together. Or get Jennifer on your project and she’ll make it all happen. Jennifer joined Sladen Feinstein Integrated Lighting in 2020 after 14 years at a Boston-base...

Sports stadium lighting used to be, pretty much, on and off, with maybe some dimming and mechanical shuttering. Now sports arenas call on theatrical lighting designers to wow the crowd with fully controlled RGB LED lights. (If you find yourself in the TD Gardens in Boston, you’ll likely experience a light show designed by our very own Ron Kuszmar!) Michael Quijano with Ephesus Sports Lighting can...

Something a little different here. We recap Webster’s and Ron’s visit to LEDucation with a fun yet informative video. Virtually visit some of the booths and “talk” to the reps. You’ll feel like you’re actually there! Almost. 

Picture this: It’s your birthday, you sit down at work and your favorite color of light comes on over your desk. Or a VIP walks into the building and everyone is notified via the lighting controls system. These are just a couple of outside-the-box ideas that Rob and Coffield have for smart building controls. Also in this episode, Ron puts up a defense for integrators. It’s not always their fault....

It’s always nice to hear from the guys that have been around the block. Mitch Hefter has been around it a couple of times (with all due respect, Mitch!). Webster and Ron and you get a lesson in standards like DALI and DMX and a refresher on acronyms like ESTA and USITT. You’ll even learn how a Norelco Razor played a part in the development of POE. Mitch Hefter has been working in lighting controls...

This turned out to be one of our favorite episodes. If you want to hear how to design lighting controls thoroughly and effectively, listen to this one. Ben talks with Webster and Ron about taking ownership of the design and implementation of controls as a Lighting Controls Designer, which includes: identifying the right devices, coordinating mounting locations, designing integration points, follow...

Where are we with Power Over Ethernet? You know it’s coming so you might as well get on board. Akram and Kim from MHT, one of the industry leaders on POE, let you in on where the technology is headed and the hurdles to overcome, both technological and mental. Hey, your office landline is probably VOIP, so you’re already using POE. Now start thinking about using it for lighting. Akram Khalis (AK) s...

Webster and Ron talk with Dan about UV light. What’s so good about UV light? Well, it kills pathogens. But using UV light in the indoor environment requires engineering for safety and effectiveness. Dan explains the use of UV light along with the use of controls and sensors for room occupancy, toxin and virus levels, fans, and filters. And don’t forget that old technology - opening your window. Da...

This is one episode we soap you like. Lighting design in a car wash? Yep. Adam has found a tidy little niche market. But just like any other project, it requires skill and technology. Adam has created theater-like experiences that draw families to the local car wash. Visitors see the flashy light show but not the pixel mapping, zone control and DMX technology behind the soap and water.  Since the...

Controls are still new to lighting reps but we have Todd M. Reemtsma, a multi-year multi-industry veteran to help understand better. One issue is that controls remain separated from other parts of the process, commissioning, design and even reps. Everyone wants more of every pie and that extends up to manufacturers and their platforms and protocols. The barriers between fields and between protocol...

Opportunity is the word.   We are joined by Michael Colligan of Restoring Darkness to discuss why lighting controls and smart city projects are a natural fit for eliminating excess light at night. Integrators, researchers, and city managers have the tools in place to examine what works and doesn’t in terms of beam spread, brightness, and color across every vector. Those opportunities represent mon...

Kelly is in the weeds when it comes to codes and standards. She spends A LOT of time thinking about controls as she is on the Codes and Standards team at PG&E in California. And you know what that means. If it’s adopted in California, it’ll be everywhere else eventually. So get ahead of the game and listen to this podcast. Kelly Cunningham currently serves as a program manager on Pacific Gas &...

Matthew talks with Webster and Ron about “getting grandma to not click on bad things,” how to keep networks secure, and how to avoid a “spear-phishing” attack (as opposed to a just plain “phishing”). Matthew has been in the cybersecurity world for 24 years and he and Morphisec know how to make it EXTREMELY difficult to mount a successful cyber attack. Matthew encompasses a rare combination of qual...

We’ve had some brainiacs on this podcast before, but the products Pathway Connectivity has engineered around switching, PoE and networking… well, suffice to say, you’ve probably used something they have or his team has built. Robert discusses, with Webster and Ron, how switches, designed for entertainment, are making their way into architectural lighting and “architainment.” Robert Bell a Consulti...