Over 2,000 industry people attended SPARC International Lighting Event 2015. Held at Sydney Exhibition Centre @ Glebe Island, SPARC 2015 featured an exhibition of around 80 lighting companies, a speaker program of renowned international and Australian experts and concluded with a gala dinner.

“This is the third SPARC International Lighting Event to be held and SPARC has truly secured its place as the Southern Hemisphere’s leading event for lighting professionals and stakeholders in the built environment,” said SPARC CEO Bryan Douglas.

The exhibition showcased leading edge innovations, products and technology—reflecting developments in interior, exterior, retail and commercial lighting and lighting controls. Exhibiting companies ranged from large multinationals to smaller niche businesses from across Australia and overseas. Solid state lighting and lighting controls technology featured prominently.

The Speaker Program featured an impressive line-up of speakers from around the world with expertise in lighting design, education, research and architecture.  Speakers and topics covered included:

“Colour preference-based LED lighting” – NIST Fellow, Sensor Science Division at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, Dr Yoshi Ohno.

“Consumer choice for lighting products and the feasibility of DC circuits for lighting” – Associate Professor of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and Co-Director at the Center for Climate and Energy Decision-Making (CEDM), Assoc. Professor Inês Azevedo.

“Transitions in Museum Lighting Design” – Senior Lighting Technician at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Simm Steel.                                                                                                                                                 “Early lessons learned from the introduction of SSL to the market” – Manager of Advanced Lighting at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Marc Ledbetter.

“Light and colour in the built environment” – Joint talk with Principal of Lighting Design Studio PointOfView Design Pty Ltd, Mark Elliott and Vice Principal of Specifier Service, Xicato Roger Sexton.

“The potential health issues of solid-state lighting” – Head of the lighting and electromagnetism division at the Center for Building Science and Technology (CSTB) in France, Dr Christophe Martinsons.

“The results of quality testing of residential LED lamps” – Full professor Toulouse 3 University (France), Professor Honoris Causa St Petersburg State University (Russian Federation), Vice President IEEE Industrial Application Society, Professor Georges Zissis.

“Daylight in the built environment” – Principal architect of Di Mase Architects, Antony Di Mase.

“Latest developments in connected lighting” – Office and Industry Segment Leader, Global Business Systems, Philips Lighting, Jacques Letzelter.

“International standards for lighting products” – International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee 34, Dr Alan Prest.

The event also featured an Asia Pacific Light Systems Workshop, a PechaKucha session and a Q&A Panel Session to wrap up the Speaker program.

The SPARC gala dinner ended the event in style at the Sydney Town Hall.  With James Valentine as MC, the event featured entertainment including TaikOz Drummers, a Scottish Pipe and Drum band and Brad Blaze, a speed painter who wowed the audience.