Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Jan. 24, 2020. Hey, it’s Friday! I should be in a rousing good mood. I have spent weeks fighting an upper respiratory infection and before that a back issue. Things seem better and it will be a beautiful weekend in Southern California.
But there is a certain amount of dread surrounding this weekend each year. I know most of you around the globe won’t understand at all and even many of you in the US won’t really care. But the American football season is over. I have no Fantasy Team to check on. There are no last-minute playoff opportunities. Even the Super Bowl lurking a week distant is often anticlimactic. And baseball pitchers and catchers are still three weeks from reporting. But here’s to feeling better!
Speaking of the Super Bowl, it wasn’t that long ago when during the week prior to the game we ran several articles about the first championship game to be played under LED lighting. Hard to believe that was only five years ago. I believe that every Super Bowl has been played under LEDs since as have championship games in every other pro sport.
In case you are wondering, what is now called Hard Rock Stadium in the Miami, FL area was upgraded to LED lighting in 2016, fairly early in the move for National Football League (NFL) teams to solid-state lighting (SSL). Cooper’s Ephesus supplied the project.
Fans in Miami for the big game will experience LED lighting in varied applications. Just in time for the Super Bowl, the Miami Downtown Development Authority has installed dynamic and whimsical LED lighting on curved poles along the Baywalk in the city’s Bayfront Park, adjacent to American Airlines Arena where the city’s pro basketball team plays. Savino Miller Design Studio was behind the project and the lights will be hot pink during Super Bowl-related festivities. Miami was also among the first cities to get a skyscraper with signature dynamic LED lighting covering the façade all the way back in 2012. We featured the LED Miami Tower on our cover.
Moving to news and projects, we have a very interesting life science story for you. The University of Arizona is studying LED light therapy to treat mild traumatic brain injury or concussions — see, I continued my football-on-the brain line of thought. But seriously, a blue-light intervention appears to help injured patients back to health.
There will be a lot of learning opportunities in the lighting for health area at Strategies in Light. Make plans to join us in San Diego. And for sure plan to join us on the aircraft carrier Midway for our Sapphire Awards presented on the flight deck. You will get a top San Diego tourist venue, incredible views of the bay and skyline, tapas and drinks, and a chance to celebrate our winners. This will not just be an awards ceremony but an unforgettable night out.
You will find many more stories of interest in the body of today’s newsletter. Please note my relatively new email address below. And always feel free to contact me to discuss content we post or to pitch a contributed article.
- Maury Wright, (858) 748-6785, [email protected]