LEDs & SSL Design

LEDs Magazine 40 Under 40 Profile: Erico Mattos

July 24, 2020

Honoree Erico Mattos's work brings together various stakeholders in the controlled environment agriculture space.

ERICO MATTOS. (Photo credit: Image courtesy of Cornell University GLASE Consortium.)

Erico Mattos, PhD, directs the operation of the Greenhouse Lighting Systems & Engineering (GLASE) consortium that is a public-private organization led by Cornell University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The consortium is focused on improving controlled environment agriculture (CEA) energy-use efficiency and increasing greenhouse and indoor farms profitability.

Mattos’ work at GLASE brings together growers, manufacturers, and other CEA industry stakeholders to close the gaps between the different segments of the CEA industry and facilitate new and emerging energy-efficient technology transfer and implementation. Mattos earned a degree in agronomic engineering from the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) in 2009, and subsequently earned his PhD from the University of Georgia in 2013 in crop and soils sciences. During his dissertation, he co-authored two technology patents on the biological feedback control of LED lights to optimize plants’ photosynthetic efficiency.

Mattos was recognized as the 2014 Emerging Leader of the Year Award by Georgia Bio — a nonprofit organization focused on advancing the growth of Georgia’s life sciences industries. In 2015 and 2017, Mattos co-authored two technology patents on the Phase Synchronizing Pulse Amplitude Modulation Fluorometer, a technology developed to monitor plant photosynthetic efficiency. Mattos is also co-founder and CEO of Candidus, a horticultural-lighting controls company developing smart lighting control systems for crop production in greenhouses.

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About the Author

Carrie Meadows | Editor-in-Chief, LEDs Magazine

Carrie Meadows has more than 20 years of experience in the publishing and media industry. She worked with the PennWell Technology Group for more than 17 years, having been part of the editorial staff at Solid State Technology, Microlithography World, Lightwave, Portable Design, CleanRooms, Laser Focus World, and Vision Systems Design before the group was acquired by current parent company Endeavor Business Media.

Meadows has received finalist recognition for LEDs Magazine in the FOLIO Eddie Awards, and has volunteered as a judge on several B2B editorial awards committees. She received a BA in English literature from Saint Anselm College, and earned thesis honors in the college's Geisel Library. Without the patience to sit down and write a book of her own, she has gladly undertaken the role of editor for the writings of friends and family.

Meadows enjoys living in the beautiful but sometimes unpredictable four seasons of the New England region, volunteering with an animal shelter, reading (of course), and walking with friends and extended "dog family" in her spare time.

About the Author

Maury Wright | Editor in Chief

Maury Wright is an electronics engineer turned technology journalist, who has focused specifically on the LED & Lighting industry for the past decade. Wright first wrote for LEDs Magazine as a contractor in 2010, and took over as Editor-in-Chief in 2012. He has broad experience in technology areas ranging from microprocessors to digital media to wireless networks that he gained over 30 years in the trade press. Wright has experience running global editorial operations, such as during his tenure as worldwide editorial director of EDN Magazine, and has been instrumental in launching publication websites going back to the earliest days of the Internet. Wright has won numerous industry awards, including multiple ASBPE national awards for B2B journalism excellence, and has received finalist recognition for LEDs Magazine in the FOLIO Eddie Awards. He received a BS in electrical engineering from Auburn University.