Guest Authors

  By Michael Braun, Founder & CEO, MSB Protection On a luxury estate, landscape lighting showcases architecture, highlights mature trees, illuminates pathways, and creates a welcoming atmosphere. But for properties facing elevated security risks, lighting serves another purpose: helping security personnel recognize potential threats before they reach the residence. Having spent much of my career [...]

  This LinkedIn post is reprinted with permission from Geoffrey Marlow. Special thanks to Geoffrey Marlow. By Geoffrey Marlow, President, Marlow Advisory Group The DesignLights Consortium’s Networked Lighting Controls Technical Requirements V5.2 took effect on August 17, 2026. On its own terms, it’s a modest update. Two additions stand out: thermostat integration, which lets occupancy [...]

  By Zheng Hongfeng, International Outreach, Zigong Huilongtang Culture& Art Co., Ltd. Most of the conversation about night-time attractions happens in photographs. The finished trail, the reflection on water, the crowd at the gate. The part that decides whether any of it works happens months earlier, in a site survey nobody photographs. Put a night [...]

  By Cinn Song, Founder, SOLARTODO LIMITED When a camera is added to a lighting pole, the closeout package should explain how the change affects the lighting asset. A camera image alone cannot show whether the supply arrangement, control settings or maintenance responsibilities are documented well enough for the next service visit. Consider a hypothetical [...]

  By Claude Zhu, Lighting Engineer, Arup Perth (Australia) BACKGROUND LED technology has expanded well beyond illumination applications and is increasingly being deployed in biomedical and consumer healthcare devices. One of the fastest-growing segments in this field is home-use phototherapy equipment designed for dermatological and cosmetic applications. Skin aging is associated with structural and biochemical [...]

  By Monty Miao, International Trade Manager, Star Factory Lantern A design-methodology case study on using outline, surface response, motion, and full- system commissioning to keep a monumental, illuminated character visually legible from skyline scale to close-up viewing. When an illuminated character reaches 12 meters in height, adding more light does not automatically make it [...]

  This article was originally a LinkedIn post by Armin Ismail. Reprinted with permission. By Armin Ismail In 2025, I sold USLED CO LLC — a commercial lighting company I founded in 2018 — to a larger industry player. Seven years of building, and then an exit. I didn’t come from the lighting industry. I [...]

  By Jerry Chen, Co-Founder & CEO, Electrify AI has dramatically improved productivity in many sectors of the economy, and manufacturing is no exception. Among lighting manufacturers, the companies with the biggest productivity gains are the ones adopting digital twins. A digital twin is a virtual representation of your business. For lighting manufacturers, this includes [...]

  By Geoffrey Marlow, Founder & President, Marlow Advisory Group Editor’s Note: This article was originally a LinkedIn post by Geoffrey Marlow, reprinted with permission. Special thanks to Geoffrey Marlow.   For years we’ve been told that technology would eventually disintermediate the electrical distributor. Manufacturers would sell direct. Contractors would buy online. Digital marketplaces would [...]