LED lighting company, Lighting Science, located in West Warwick, Rhode Island, has announced the appointment of Ute Besenecker as senior scientist and director of the company’s HealthE™ lighting product portfolio, which includes the company’s Awake & Alert®, GoodNight®, and DynaSpectrum™ lighting technologies. Besenecker comes to Light Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where she earned both a Ph.D. in Architectural Sciences and a Master of Science in Lighting.
Lighting Science has invested significant resources into its HealthE product family, which has received a number of patents, working with leading research entities such as Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., and NASA. “An increasing number of hospitals, schools and high-performance workplaces are beginning to understand the profound biological impacts of light spectrum upon the body, which can be engineered to provide specific biological outcomes such as productivity, focus, mood, alertness and reaction times,” said Lighting Science Chief Executive Officer Ed Bednarcik in a prepared statement. “Ute’s unique blend of architecture and lighting design expertise makes her particularly well-qualified to help our partners explore how to apply light spectrum technology to improve human health and well-being in a variety of business, medical and academic settings.”
In addition to her lighting studies, Besenecker also holds a Master of Science degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University in New York City, a degree in Architecture from the Leibniz Universität in Hannover, Germany, and a Masters in Design and Management from the Politecnico di Milano in Italy. Prior to making the switch the manufacturing side of the lighting industry, Besenecker worked for several years as an architectural lighting designer in the employ of Leni Schwendinger Light Projects. There she was part of the project teams for the Times Square Redevelopment, the New York Botanical Gardens, and the Atlanta BeltLine Park.
“Five years ago, I decided to take a hiatus from my design practice so that I could research and better understand the profound impact that light spectrum has on health, well-being and aesthetics,” said Besenecker in the press release. “I learned that the key to developing living and working environments that truly support health and well-being lies in better integrating the disciplines of science, engineering and design. Lighting Science is truly committed to this path and I am very excited to be part of the team.”
