NEMRA Lighting, in partnership with the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), has launched a comprehensive virtual Stepped Educational Curriculum designed to meet the growing demand for accessible, standardized professional development in the lighting industry. As lighting technologies become more sophisticated and client expectations rise, professionals—whether agents, manufacturers, or support staff—must possess more than sales skills; they are increasingly expected to educate, collaborate, and serve as valuable resources throughout a project life cycle.
Purpose and Early Response
The curriculum was created to bridge the knowledge gaps resulting from fragmented or prohibitively expensive training options. Its rollout has quickly gained significant traction, with early adopters across various member agent and manufacturer groups highlighting both the relevance and flexibility of the self-paced, online modules. Participants value the curriculum’s combination of practical, theoretical, and current industry content, tailored to differing professional development needs and backgrounds. Feedback has credited the straightforward certification process and the direct, example-rich structure that makes the material approachable for both newcomers and experienced professionals.
Structure: Four Stepped Levels
NEMRA Lighting’s Stepped Educational Curriculum consists of four sequential, job role-aligned levels, each granting continuing education units (CEUs):
Level 1: Lighting Trained (8.5 hours, up to 5.5 CEUs): Focuses on foundational lighting concepts and basic controls, enabling entry-level staff and newcomers to communicate effectively with distributors, contractors, and specifiers.
Level 2: Lighting Educated (10 hours, up to 10 CEUs): Emphasizes lighting sales and engagement strategies across multiple market segments, using practical scenarios relevant to sales, quotation, and project management roles.
Level 3: Lighting Specialized (10 hours, up to 9.5 CEUs): Transitions generalists into specialists, offering advanced insights into the specification process, selection, and integration of lighting products for designers, architects, and engineers.
Level 4: Lighting Professional (8 hours, up to 8 CEUs): Targets advanced industry practitioners, covering topics like lighting layout, system integration, advanced controls, visual comfort, and sustainability for high-performance projects and consultative sales.
Each stage builds on the previous one, allowing participants to start at the appropriate level for their career stage. The curriculum helps learners develop a nuanced understanding of the entire industry process, reinforcing confidence and expertise for credible project involvement.
Enhancements and Future Plans
NEMRA Lighting has committed to continuously updating and refining the program to remain responsive to industry changes. Upcoming developments include the introduction of member-contributed modules featuring real-world case studies and best practices, routine curriculum updates, and closer alignment of content with standard certifications such as the Lighting Certification (LC). Planned enhancements also involve new modules covering advanced controls, sustainability, human-centric design, and IoT-enabled lighting—keeping pace with technological advances and contemporary project needs.
Flexibility and accessibility continue to underpin the curriculum’s philosophy, ensuring that professionals—regardless of location, specialty, or experience—can benefit from ongoing education tailored to sector challenges.
Building Industry Trust
At its core, the program establishes a shared standard for professionalism and knowledge in lighting, transforming agents and manufacturers from simple vendors to trusted strategic partners for specifiers, architects, engineers, distributors, and contractors. This emphasis on education, shared expertise, and continuous learning helps fortify trust throughout the lighting supply chain, supporting the industry’s shift toward deeper collaboration and higher quality across all projects.
More information can be found here.
Image above courtesy of NEMRA Lighting.
You must be logged in to post a comment.