May 11, 2018
Staff Accomplishment

Robert Davis Provides Leadership to Illuminating Engineering Society

18-month effort culminates in international research symposium on light and human health

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Robert Davis

PNNL Senior Staff Engineer Robert Davis(Offsite link) led an 18-month effort to plan the program for the 2018 Illuminating Engineering Society Research Symposium(Offsite link) on light and human health. In addition to chairing the planning committee, Davis also chaired, served as host, and helped manage the compiled proceedings for the international event, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia from April 8-10, 2018.

The 2018 symposium attracted more than 230 experts—the largest turnout to date for this biennial event—representing medical, physiological, lighting, and architectural design fields. Attendees explored topics surrounding the effect of light on health factors including circadian rhythms, sleep, cancer, alertness, cognition, and aging. Davis moderated a panel discussion on developing metrics for light and health applications.

Davis was instrumental in identifying and attracting world-renowned researchers for the program, including keynote speakers from the National Institute of Mental Health’s Section on Light and Circadian Rhythms(Offsite link)and from Georgia Tech’s SimTigrate Design Lab(Offsite link).

Symposium presentations and discussions, including a closing session on “Where do we go from here?” are helping advance the understanding of lighting effects on human health, as well as informing the design and manufacturing of lighting for various environments. These new considerations about lighting’s effects may have important energy consequences for future lighting applications, so PNNL’s Advanced Lighting Team remains engaged in related research activities.

The Illuminating Engineering Society is devoted to improving the lighted environment to benefit the public. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy(Offsite link)Solid-State Lighting Program(Offsite link), sponsors PNNL’s research on energy-efficient lighting and supported Davis’s work to chair the symposium.

Published: May 11, 2018