PANEL DISCUSSION
Carol Jones, DALI Alliance | Clifton Manahan, HLB Lighting | Stephen Zhou, MW Connect
Tuesday
March 18, 2025
11:30 am - 1:00 pm EST
March 18, 2025
11:30 am - 1:00 pm EST
Credits TBD
Intermediate
In this world of digitization, integration, and AI, there is no doubt on the face of it—digital is better than analog. DALI-2, D4i, and DALI+ are high value but underutilized in North America. For that to change, lighting specifiers need practical knowledge. How exactly does DALI-2 improve your design? How do you deliver interoperability for both wired and wireless? How to spec and what to expect on a project, soup to nuts. This session will focus on designing with DALI, providing right-sized technical details, specification guidance and project examples to help you up your game and stay competitive in the world of digital buildings.
Basic lighting design knowledge recommended
Learning Objectives
- Attendees will be able to describe DALI-2, D4i, and DALI+, including their similarities and differences, and their suitability for various types of projects and applications.
- Learn how interoperability can benefit projects and end customers, and how to navigate wired and wireless digital protocols and architectures to deliver interoperability benefits.
- Attendees will learn how to specify DALI technologies using performance spec language, and how to handle scope and accountability for installation and integration.
- Become familiar with examples of projects and case studies that use DALI.
Speakers
Carol Jones
Market Development Manager, North America
DALI Alliance
As the NA Market Development Manager for the DALI Alliance, Carol continues her journey of bringing higher value digital lighting into reality and contributing to environmental goals. She’s a 30-plus year veteran of the lighting industry, but she's anything but an industry standard.
Carol has an unusually diverse background having been a lighting designer, a ‘labbie’ at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a manufacturer for both controls and luminaires, and most recently is the owner of Beyond Light Consulting. The constant is her commitment to innovation and market transformation.
Carol is a recognized industry thought leader and has long been involved with standards development, professional associations and Federal programs and policy. With 40-plus conference presentations and 20 publications under her belt, she’s well-known as a speaker and author.
Clifton Manahan
Senior Associate
HLB Lighting
Clifton is a quick study with new lighting technologies, fixtures and applications issues, becoming a valued expert in multiple areas. With a strong aesthetic based in theater and fine art his focus is on mastering technical applications - creating especially realistic and accurate lighting renderings and calculations, leading to well-thought-out and comprehensive lighting specifications.
Stephen Zhou
Executive Vice President
MW Connect
Stephen Zhou is Executive Vice President at mwConnect, a pioneering lighting and IoT company headquartered in Sacramento, CA. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s daily operations and managing its subsidiaries across Asia. He leads a cross-functional R&D team that has developed cutting-edge wireless lighting control and IoT products, earning prestigious industry accolades, including the IES Progress Report, Sapphire Award, Brightstar Award, Lightfair Technical Innovation Award, and the DOE L-Prize.
Stephen has deep technical expertise in lighting technologies such as LED drivers and advanced controls, including sensor technologies and wireless network platforms like Bluetooth Mesh, Zigbee, and Thread. He is a frequent presenter at industry events and is actively engaged in various lighting industry groups including the IES, Lighting Controls Association, Zhaga Consortium, and DALI Alliance. Stephen holds an MBA from the Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University and a B.S. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai.