Yet another LED event has been added to the calendar, but this one has a different set of goals. In the words of the organizers, executives, policy makers and influencers will attend the two-day LED Leadership Summit "to hear and exchange ideas and strategies for accelerating the adoption of LED technology."
The LED Leadership Summit, to be held November 27–29 at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, California, aims "to expand and develop the LED lighting industry by going beyond technology topics to discuss the benefits of designing products and places around this energy-saving and environmentally friendly technology."
Senior executives from the lighting, architectural, automotive, infrastructure, semiconductor and LED industries are expected to attend the event, which has been set up at the instigation of five leading LED manufacturers -- Cree, Nichia, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, Philips Lumileds and Toyoda Gosei – who are also the event's sponsors.
By working together, these companies are helping to raise the profile of the solid-state lighting industry, which is good for everyone involved, and are at the same time trying to ensure their positions at the epicenter of developments.
The prospective line-up of speaker is impressive, and includes at present:
++ Jeff Bingaman, US Senator for New Mexico, who played a major role in securing funding for the Next Generation Lighting Initiative.
++ Charles Zimmerman, Vice President, Prototype & New Format Development, Wal-Mart Stores
++ Wu Ling, General Secretary, China Directorate of Solid State Lighting
++ James Sweeney, Director, Stanford University Institute for Energy Efficiency; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institute for Economic Policy
++ Representing the lighting industry will be Theo van Deursen, CEO of Philips Lighting, Martin Goetzeler, CEO of Osram and Jim Benya, a leading US lighting designer.
++ From the transportation side are Yoshihiko Matsuda, General Manager of Lexus Planning Div., Toyota Motor Corporation; Wolfgang Helbach of Diehl Aerospace GmbH, a leading aircraft lighting supplier, and James Helmer, Director of Transportation for the City of San Jose.
++ The five LED manufacturers will also supply their most senior executives: Michael Holt, CEO of Philips Lumileds Lighting Company, Chuck Swoboda, chairman and CEO of Cree; Takashi Matsuura, president of Toyoda Gosei, Rudiger Meuller, president and CEO of Osram Opto, and Eiji Ogawa, President Nichia Corporation.
