Adele Locke has been elected as the first female National President of the Illuminating Engineering Society of Australia and New Zealand (IESANZ).

In outlining her vision for the Society, Adele has nominated an ambitious set of goals during her tenure as President. Foremost among these is promotion of lighting education.

“I am determined to promote IESANZ as the Gold Standard for the Australian and New Zealand lighting industries by providing education opportunities for all people interested in lighting,” says Adele.

“High on my list of priorities is establishment of a Lighting Education Trust to foster the pool of emerging lighting talent in our two countries.”

Other goals Adele has nominated include:

• Providing transparency to members regarding Board and Chapter activities, and more interaction from members with their own chapter, bringing new ideas and solutions that promote the art, science and practice of lighting.
• Providing increased advocacy to government and associated industries.
• Developing relationships with lighting associations globally with a view to improving access for members to current information and experience in the field of lighting.
• Promoting professionalism both within the Society and within the lighting industries in Australia and New Zealand.
• Recognising and respecting the effort put into the Society by more than 80 volunteers across all Chapters.
• Improving member services and benefits through collaboration between Chapters, sharing experiences, removing silos and barriers to success and interaction.
• Recognising the expertise of members across all fields from technical to manufacturing to design and fostering a welcoming, collaborative atmosphere for new members and members looking for a change of field.

Adele brings considerable professional experience as a lighting designer to her new role as National President. She holds the qualification of MIES in the Society and is a Director of Mint Lighting Design. She has been involved in lighting for 20 years – initially based in manufacturing and later in technical and architectural sales, sales management and lighting design. She has worked in projects as diverse as Melbourne’s AAMI Park Stadium, and Melbourne Airport Forecourt enhancements, while specialising in customised design for private dwellings.