For Immediate Release/12-xx-04/Lorraine Pace

A&M-C TO SPEARHEAD NEW-GENERATION LIGHTING RESEARCH

 

   COMMERCE, Texas - First there was the incandescent light bulb
featuring a glowing wire, next fluorescent lighting featuring a glowing
gas, but now the new-generation semiconductor chips are sparking fresh
opportunities in lighting for industry, research, and development.

   Texas A&M University-Commerce is poised to enter largely unexplored
research terrain following a donation to the industrial engineering and
technology department - for the purchase of light measuring equipment -
by Kevin Hannah, president of OptoEngineering, an LED lighting
manufacturer, based in Tulsa, Okla, that manufactures a patented
pre-designed, pre-assembled LED lighting array to the sign industry,
based on electrical, mechanical, lighting and design specifications.

   Students and faculty will be using the equipment to establish
empirical de facto standards for brightness in sign enclosures based
light emitting diode, (LED) lighting and powering technologies.

   Says Dr. J.K. Crain, industrial engineering and technology head,
"LEDs will probably be the norm in lighting 10 to 12 years from now, and
so I'm very excited by the opportunities Hannah's donation affords
A&M-Commerce students in researching a leading-edge technology."

   According to Crain, solid-state lighting changes everything about
illumination, breaking all barriers in its use, brightness and sources. 

   There are no standards in LED lighting other than /de facto/
standards and," says Crain, "even these are still in the process of
being established."

   A&M-Commerce plans to use the new equipment to optically measure
different LEDs to determine how much brightness is needed to illuminate
specific areas.

   The goal is to ultimately optimize functionality by establishing the
cost per lumen. We will learn how to put a system together - studying
the positioning and intensity of light - to make it as efficient as
possible,  says Crain.

   As part of the research project, a database incorporating various
business tools such as reports and statistics - will also be
established and maintained.

   Hannah, whose company has been manufacturing LED systems since July
this year and is considering establishing a manufacturing facility in
Commerce, says, "Our LED modules are packaged into an array using our
patented process.  

   We create systems able to provide a complete end user solution
incorporating the large variety of quality LED lighting components
available on the market today.  Compared to existing technologies, LED's
provide benefits including low energy consumption, safe low voltage
operation, low heat emission, and up to 100,000 hour life expectancies
virtually eliminating maintenance needs.

   We plan to incorporate A&M-Commerce's research findings into our
technology to create a product that allows our systems to utilize
individual components similar to the way  computer components are used,
producing high quality systems that maximize performance and cost.

   LED lighting does not fail like traditional light sources, making it
a very attractive investment,  Hannah says.

   LEDs, which offer a better quality of light than other lighting
products on the market, also offers companies tax benefits as it may be
treated as a capital investment.

   Traffic lights, vehicle taillights, telephones, comprise just part of
the multi-billion dollar US LED market.