GRANT TO ENHANCE

The IALD Education Trust Grant to Enhance Lighting Design Education was developed to provide the educational continuity of five years of funding, enhancing architectural lighting design education at the university level. The recipient will receive $50,000 USD over the course of five years, for a total of $250,000 USD.

The IALD Education Trust announced the recipient of the first Grant to Enhance as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, College of Engineering, and Dr. Kevin Houser. Project CANDLE, as submitted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is a proposal to "Create an Alliance to Nurture Design in Lighting Education."

Conceived as an industry/university partnership to advance lighting professions, the two principal objectives of project CANDLE are to increase the number of students that make lighting their vocation, and to ensure that coursework and educational experiences are responsive to industry needs such that graduating students have the right set of skills and training for careers in the lighting profession.

These objectives will be achieved through a series of activities:

Outreach to high school students through the creation of the IALD Student Ambassador Award
The mentorship of a future lighting educator and the support of a PhD dissertation through the creation of the IALD Future Lighting Educator Fellowship
An annual lighting industry advisory group roundtable and retreat
Student travel awards, exposing students to the career opportunities in lighting, encouraging interaction between students and professionals