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 age of 8, Adam has been very interested in electrical systems and software. Thanks to church, he was raised around stage lighting and audio systems through helping with services and special events. As an adult he stumbled into the car wash industry doing their electrical control systems, pneumatics, and hydraulics. A few years passed before he had the idea to bridge lighting, audio, and car washing. What was ultimately birthed is an architectural lighting platform that takes the 'human' aspect of stage lighting design and packages it into reusable sequences per customer building. He is able to pixel map each location according to the actual architecture, meaning each customer's location can be unique according to their marketing goals. Audio synchronized light shows are natively supported meaning customers can build marketing events around his platform like Christmas or Halloween shows. 

Connect with Adam: 

http://www.sutrainnovations.com 

IG: @builditwithadam and @sutrainnovations 

FB: www.facebook.com/sutrainnovations 

LinkedIn: Adam Grant 

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 protocols will start to come down when it’s something that end users demand, much like how it happened in theatrical lighting. Control intent narratives, even simple ones, from designers, even ones that don’t deal in controls, can do a lot for creating what customers and users want. We also get into generation gaps, lessons from that infamous Massachusetts High School and the value of using wires for your controls.

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 money-earning potential for integrators and lighting experts. We can all win here and look good doing it.

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 & Electric’s Codes and Standards team. Her role includes managing the program responsible for the development of codes and standards enhancement proposals to advance California’s Energy Code, leading the Local Energy Codes program which offers technical assistance to California jurisdictions pursuing energy ordinances, and supporting the evolution of national building energy model codes. She is also an NBI Senior Fellow. 

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 qualifications in information security, networking, security research, forensics and incident management. 

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 Consulting Director for Product Market at Acuity Brands and oversees the development of the entire Pathway Connectivity product line. Robert has been awarded multiple US Patents for lighting controls and networking which have been assigned to Acuity Brands. In 1992, he won the first ever Wally Russell Newcomer Award as the creator of WYSIWYG, the Emmy Award winning previsualization software. 

Sean lives in California, so he is immersed in the code requirements that the rest of the country will eventually see. As Sean says, dimming is a requirement in California code, and isn’t that a fundamental part of lighting controls? Webster and Ron discuss with Sean how relationships with manufacturers, agents, engineers, and architects help drive towards those requirements while still satisfying the customer. Sean O'Connor recognized the power of light and shadow as a student of architecture. Since establishing his firm, Sean O'Connor Lighting, nearly 25 years ago Mr. O'Connor has developed an award-winning body of work which defines spaces, their character, identity, and beauty through the use of light. 

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.