Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Mar. 11, 2020. This week the coronavirus Covid-19 feels even more real, and please understand I know it’s already been devastating for many already impacted by it. But this would have been Light + Building (L+B) week.
And I’d assume most of you have heard, but just in case you didn’t, LEDucation, which was scheduled for next week in New York, has been postponed until August. The issues for industry events are almost too many to discuss. We’re starting to hear about legal liability, for example. But the fact is that if you hold an industry event right now, people just won’t attend.
The Optical Networking and Communications Conference (OFC) is ongoing this week in San Diego, CA where I live. I have been told that there may be 1000 people in attendance whereas 25,000 were expected.
But reading about the OFC organizers' actions, I found some small solace in technology. The event is allowing delegates that could not attend to stream content. Indeed, our society can leverage technology to weather the Covid-19 storm both in terms of business and leisure. We can still share information instantly and the LED and solid-state lighting (SSL) sectors can continue to advance technology using modern IT tools and communication facilities.
There is a glimmer of good news from China with the rate of infections declining. And in the business world, we are seeing a recovery in the supply chain. Let’s hope the rest of the world remains healthy enough to leverage that supply chain in the short term.
In terms of technology news, we do have a packaged LED story for you covering several announcements. Osram Opto Semiconductors took a unique approach to developing a red LED for rear-facing, automotive lighting applications. For applications such as fog lights, the company's newest LED uses a phosphor-converted red approach to eliminate the drop in output that comes at high temperature with monochromatic red LEDs.
In executive moves, GE Current has appointed Chip Taylor as chief commercial officer and formally moved the business headquarters back to Cleveland, OH. The move is part of the continued restructuring that began after Manish Bhandari took over as CEO back in December.
Remember we have our 40 under 40 program underway. Please take the time to nominate someone that you feel has a demonstrated ability to lead our industry going forward. We also published a blog post sharing more information on the program.
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]