Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Apr. 22, 2020. Happy Earth Day 2020. Wow, what a situation. Global society could use a happy day without the pandemic. But the pandemic has allowed Earth some breathing room with many cars off the road and some polluting plants and factories shuttered. I think and hope there is light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the pandemic and that hopefully we can also soon restart progress on permanent steps for the future of the Earth.
In our Lighting for Health and Wellbeing newsletter on Monday, I hinted about a news release coming on Earth Day. And I asked whose wellbeing would benefit from the solid-state lighting (SSL) project. Well, in this case the answer is hatchling turtles after an Alabama gulf-coast resort installed outdoor lighting from Ketra (a Lutron Company) that is turtle friendly.
I think the project might be a good one to ponder a bit. There is a lot we can accomplish with two-channel, white-point-tunable LED lighting. There is more we can do with additional channels that leverage monochromatic LEDs. Think creatively when you approach product development or a project.
While reading the Sunday paper this past weekend — on my PC, of course, with no paper wasted — I ran across the newspaper story that is the basis of our news relative to Cooper Lighting. I was actually reading the San Diego Union Tribune via their daily paper digital platform, but that is a sister paper to the LA Times and the two share substantial content, including the story in question that included a mention of Mexican authorities closing a Cooper maquiladora factory in Mexicali, Mexico because of unauthorized operation during the pandemic.
I felt an obligation to you our readers to publish a link to that story. But I also wanted to hear from Cooper and I got a statement from that company. I believe our story paints a fairer picture of what actually happened than does the newspaper story. Please read.
Across the Atlantic, our Mark Halper has reported on Swedish lighting manufacturer Fagerhult — a company that was in the midst of reorganization with a new CEO on board for just over a year when the coronavirus hit. The company had begun the transition from an organization based on more than a dozen brands to one based on only four business sectors. But now the company is having to adapt to the impact of COVID-19.
The last call for 40 under 40 nominations is coming soon. If you haven’t already done so, nominate an up-and-coming star in the LED or SSL sectors. The process is free and now even more simple.
You will find many more stories of interest in the body of today’s newsletter. 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]