David, a lawyer, might know more about gallium nitride and LED light bulbs than you do. He survived - and thrived - through the LED “patent wars” of the early 2000’s. David tells Michael and Greg about patent suits involving the Nobel Prize Winner Shuji Nakamura, Cree Inc., and Nichia Corporation. Listen to this episode to find out who won. If you’re involved in a patent dispute, you DO NOT want David on the other side. Similarly, if you anticipate getting involved with one, feel free to reach out to him before the other side does.

Prior to getting his law degree from Columbia University, he got a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Cornell where he focused on the semiconductors that eventually became the backbone of the LED lighting industry. Over his 30 plus year career, David has litigated more than 75 LED patent cases involving over 150 LED patents. That is more than any other attorney in the US by probably an order of magnitude. His client list and experience with the LED lighting industry goes back over 30 years.

ALERT! ALERT! If you’re a middle class salaried or hourly wage earner, you’re going to keep earning less and less when you factor in cost of living inflation. But despair not! Michael and Greg have the answers. Maybe.  You’ll have to listen to find out.

After studying Renaissance Design in Italy, Architecture in Buffalo, and Communication Design in New York, Adam landed a job in… wait for it… cancer research! Eventually, via a series of career changes, he ended up at UL and finally, on the Get A Grip On Lighting Podcast. Adam schools us on the latest research in circadian lighting. Are Michael and Greg finally convinced about the merits of circadian lighting? You’ll have to check out this episode to find out. As UL Subject Matter Expert in Circadian-Effective Lighting, Adam served on the Industry Task Force investigating current circadian practices. In 2019 UL published UL Design Guideline 24480 Promoting Circadian Entrainment with Light. He has spoken at conferences, led webinars, published papers and authored several circadian service patents for UL Solutions. Those services are now launched. 

With the kinds of customers Tim serves, good lighting can be a matter of life and death. Mines, factories, steel mills - all require lighting that isn’t going to melt, start a fire or blow up! Tim and his company, Dialight, keep sustainability at the forefront of their mission while helping customers achieve their environmental and safety goals. Tim does have one frequent customer complaint though: people can’t believe how dirty their facilities are once they’re properly lit! Tim Cillessen is Dialight’s VP of Sales, overseeing global sales as well as marketing and customer service operations to drive revenue growth and develop strategies to expand Dialight's market share. Tim began his career as a Product Development Engineer, where he gained valuable experience in developing and testing instrumentation products for various industrial markets, eventually moving to work at Siemens as a Product Manager for Instrumentation and quickly rising the ranks to become their Head of Sales and Marketing for the Process Safety division – leading sales and marketing teams and developing solutions to increase safety in some of the toughest markets. 

“Leave the earth better than how we found it.” That’s Melissa’s definition of sustainable. Of course she agrees that it is more complicated than that when it comes to the lighting industry. Luckily Brian Huff the chairman of NAILD's Distributor Committee for Sustainable Lighting joins us to add some flavor. Listen to this episode as we solve all the problems. Almost. Melissa divides her time between architectural lighting design and sustainable manufacturing consulting. As the leader of Sladen Feinstein’s sustainability efforts, Melissa is continually curious about the relationship between architecture, the human experience and what it means to embody space. Brian Huff is President of Adventure Lighting in Des Moines, IA. He’s been in the lighting industry for 13ish years, and owned the company for 5 years. He spends a lot of time with his two kids going to kid's sports, coaching kid's sports, playing golf, and volunteering on a few local boards/non-profits. 

Michael has noticed, over the years, that vendor members who have quit NAILD, have experienced “the kiss of death.” In this short-form Get A Grip, Michael and Greg riff on private equity take-overs, change of ownership, ROI, education, and giving back. If you want to have a better chance at success and staying in business, join NAILD!

You must check out some videos of Michal’s LED Tron Dance Suits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVt2OwMKiM8. You’ll be mesmerized. Michal explains to Michael and Greg how his company continues to address the challenges of controlling the lights, maintenance of the LED diodes and trying to keep the dancers from beating up the suits! As Michael points out, if Michal and his company can figure out controls for dancing suits, why can’t our industry get it together?

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.

If you don’t know Sid Phillips, you should. His experience and longevity in the business makes him a go-to for information and advice. Lucky for us, he gives some here on the Get A Grip On Lighting podcast. As Sid likes to say, he “kick’s the cans” and tries to fix what’s wrong. So listen up manufacturers call Sid and he’ll look at your latest product. Mostly, you’ll want to listen to this one to hear Sid tell Michael he’s wrong! Sid Phillips started Professional Lighting in 1985 with his wife Becky. With Becky as President, Sid focuses on sales in his role as Vice President. Sid’s a big believer in doing the right thing. 

“The human centric workplace.” That subject will always spark debate, especially the lighting part of it. Simone explained to Michael and Greg how she goes about it in her profession. She avoids the fluff and the trendiness of the subject and… Just. Makes. Sense. If she wasn’t across the pond in England, we’d have her over to shake up our workplaces. You could say Simone is a workplace thought-leader who’s passionate about creating human-centric workplaces, but at its most basic, what she does is focus on people. She hones in on the employee experience, workplace culture, and organizational performance and uses data insights to deliver change and business improvement in regard to culture, space, process, and technology. 

In this special edition of Get A Grip On Lighting, super-fan Peter Ma drops in the studio to chat with Michael. Peter, a long time listener, came by to meet Michael and to see the studio. But Peter is in the business, so he and Michael talk about how his parents went from manufacturing flash drives to manufacturing LED’s in Taiwan, starting Vyvyd Lighting in Toronto, and how he learned lighting design from Nelca Roco on Youtube. You can even learn a couple things about Taiwan's history. Vyvyd Lighting's founder, Peter Ma, got his start in the lighting industry in his family LED manufacturing business in Taiwan since 2006 when LED light bulbs were just introduced to the market. After moving to Toronto in 2008, Peter has worked as an electrical apprentice, lighting specifier, and graphic designer. He noticed the Greater Toronto Area has many unique requirements in lighting due to its geographic position and multi-cultural society. He founded Vyvyd Lighting in 2014 to offer customized lighting design and supply services.