Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation, a non-profit subsidiary of Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), was established in 2005 to educate the public on the importance of intellectual property rights to the national and global economies. The National Inventor of the Year Award fosters the spirit of American innovation and highlights the protection offered to inventors by the patent system.
Lys will be recognized for his development of Powercore(R), a breakthrough in digital power processing technology designed to increase efficiency, lower the overall cost, and simplify installation of LED lighting systems.
To be useful for illumination, LED sources must be integrated into systems that account for optics, high-efficiency LED drivers, advanced power components, and thermal management. Historically, LED lights required an external power supply and special cabling to convert line voltage into low voltage. Similar to a laptop's power supply, these were in the form of a "brick" in the power cord. This configuration, a power source outside the light fixture itself, was inefficient because power was lost in the conversion. Powercore(R) technology integrates power, data management and voltage conversion into the light fixture, eliminating the need for a separate power supply.
A number of high-profile landmarks are illuminated by Powercore-based solid-state lighting systems, including the Hollywood Bowl and CN Tower in Toronto. The technology has been incorporated into 13 commercialized products to date and will be incorporated into a majority of Philips' future solid-state lighting products, including many already in development.
Lys co-founded Color Kinetics in 1997, where he developed Powercore(R) and a number of other LED illumination technologies. Color Kinetics was acquired by Philips Electronics North America in August 2007, and now Lys serves as Chief Scientist of the new Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions. He is responsible for the company's strategic technology advancement and implementation, including applied research and advanced engineering in the development of new lighting, power and control products.
