LED industry sets Special Interest Group in motion

The first meeting of the Special Interest Group (SIG) in LED and Novel Lighting Technologies took place at the Photonics Cluster (UK) headquarters in Birmingham, UK on August 16.

The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the SIG to participants in industry, academia and government, and included representatives of various end-use sectors such as lighting, automotive, displays and machine vision, as well as companies involved in test & measurement, optics, drivers and many other related disciplines.

The meeting was an open forum for the discussion of novel lighting technologies, barriers for LED technologies to penetrating new lighting markets, government support mechanisms to the lighting industry and whether standards are sufficient for LED measurement, packaging and lifetimes.

Many of these subjects will be addressed by the SIG in its ongoing efforts to accelerate the penetration of LED lighting into new and growing markets.

Future SIG activities will be directed by a Steering Group representing members' interests. The Steering Group is now being assembled, and the Photonics Cluster (UK) encourages applications from anyone wishing to be considered as a potential Steering Group member.

The deadline for applications is the 15th September 2005. You can access a copy of the Steering Group Application Form on the Photonics Cluster (UK) forum or by contacting the PC (UK) team at [email protected].

EuroLED 2006

The meeting also provided the opportunity to discuss EuroLED 2006, the major LEDs conference being organized by Photonics Cluster (UK) in partnership with LEDs Magazine on behalf of the LED and Novel Lighting Technologies SIG.

EuroLED 2006 will take place on May 16-17, 2006, with the possible addition of a third day to incorporate workshops and other features. The event represents the third in an annual series of LED events organized by PC(UK), the last being in April 2005 (see the LEDs Magazine article "UK LEDs workshop focuses on technology and applications").

As well as two full days of focused presentations on LED technology and applications, EuroLED 2006 will include a dissemination of the findings from two separate UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) missions to Japan and the U.S., which will take place in the next several months.

For more information visit www.photonicscluster-uk.org or contact the PC(UK) team on [email protected] or +44 (0)121-260-6020.