COLOR KINETICS CO-FOUNDER IHOR LYS NAMED ONE OF
THE WORLD'S TOP YOUNG INNOVATORS BY TECHNOLOGY REVIEW, MIT'S MAGAZINE OF INNOVATION
Dr. Lys Honored at Exclusive Event Where International Leaders
Connect with 100 Top Innovators Under Age 35
Ihor Lys
Age 32
Color Kinetics
Ihor Lys wants you to color your world with light that morphs, fades and blends in computerized patterns, thanks to multihued arrays of light emmitting diodes (LEDs).Lys came to lighting after 11 years at Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied electrical engineering and robotics. While working on an LED-based display for a robot, he realized that by combining bright blue LEDs -- just then being reported in labs -- with existing red and green ones, he could create new possibilities for digitally controlled illumination. But it took circuit design virtuosity to produce lush visual environments using these simple indictator lights. In 1997 he teamed up with engineer George Mueller and launched Boston-based Color Kinetics, which reported revenues of $17 million in 2001. Colors from its LED fixtures fill corporate lobbies, swimming pools, spas -- and even emanate from the cables of Philadelphia's Ben Franklin Bridge. Lys "keeps pulling off miracles" says the MIT Media Lab's Michael Hawley, a Color Kinetics board member. But Lys views his mission in simple terms: I see things that are expensive and difficult, and I want to make them cheap and easy."
Source: Technology Review Magazine, June 2002 issue
CAMBRIDGE, MA - May 15, 2002 - Color Kinetics Incorporated, the leader in intelligent LED illumination, today announced that its Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Ihor Lys has been chosen as one of the world's 100 Top Young Innovators by Technology Review, MIT's Magazine of Innovation. The TR100, chosen by Technology Review, MIT's award-winning magazine of innovation, consists of 100 young individuals whose innovative work in business and technology has a profound impact on today's world. Nominees are recognized for their contribution in transforming the nature of technology in industries such as biotechnology, computing, energy, medicine, manufacturing, nanotechnology, telecommunications and transportation.
A prolific inventor and holder of 6 U.S. Patents, Dr. Lys co-founded Color Kinetics in 1997 with fellow Carnegie Mellon University graduate George Mueller. As Chief Technology Officer for Color Kinetics, Dr. Lys was instrumental in the development of the company's patented Chromacore® technology, which uses micro-processor controlled LEDs (light emitting diodes) to generate millions of colors and a variety of dynamic lighting effects. The first major breakthrough in the lighting industry in over 100 years, Chromacore represents an entirely new kind of lighting - Solid State Illumination -- and has been recognized by creative professionals and industry experts alike as a revolutionary invention, both technically and aesthetically. Through its pioneering use of intelligently controlled LEDs as an illumination source, Color Kinetics offers a low power, ultra-long life, low heat and UV-free illumination solution, transcending the limits of traditional illumination methods to create an extremely energy efficient, cost-effective and versatile source of light. The technology is used today in a variety of commercial and consumer applications by a veritable "Who's Who" of the architectural, hospitality, retail and entertainment industries.
A frequent speaker at industry conferences and events, Dr. Lys received his undergraduate, masters and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (1987-1998). His Ph.D. Thesis focused on low power CMOS circuit techniques based on reduced voltage swing signaling.
Dr. Lys is being honored today during a conference and awards ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The event, themed "The Innovation Economy: How Technology is Transforming Existing Businesses and Creating New Ones", includes a full day of conference sessions and panel discussions followed by an evening gala awards ceremony. Hosted by Technology Review's Editor-in-Chief John Benditt and CNBC's Consuelo Mack, conference speakers include international leaders such as Kenneth Starr Esq.; Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and author of The Innovators Dilemma; Nadine Strossen, president of the ACLU; Rodney Brooks, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Co-director of Project Oxygen, MIT; Richard Rashid, Senior Vice President, Microsoft Research; and David Tennenhouse, Vice President and Corporate Technology Group Director, Intel Corporation.
TR100's unparalleled panel of judges includes:
Dr. David Baltimore, President, California Institute of Technology
Alfred Berkeley III, Vice Chairman, NASDAQ
Richard Demillo, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Hewlett-Packard
Dr. Philippe Janson, Vice President, IBM Academy of Technology
Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe, Venture Partner, Polaris Venture Partners
Dr. Cherry A. Murray, Senior Vice President of Physical Science Research, Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies
Nicholas Negroponte, Director, MIT Media Laboratory
Dr. Judith Rodin, President, University of Pennsylvania
About Technology Review Inc.
Re-launched in 1998 as "MIT's Magazine of Innovation," Technology Review is the world's oldest technology magazine. The magazine, as well as its signature events and Internet businesses, delivers essential information on emerging technologies on the verge on commercialization. Since its re-launch, Technology Review's paid circulation has more than tripled, from 92,000 to 310,000 (as of January 2002). Several hundred thousand current MIT alumni, faculty and students, senior technology thinkers and influencers - venture capitalists, chief scientists, researchers, senior corporate executives, investors, and innovators throughout the world -- constitute the Technology Review community.
About Color Kinetics
Color Kinetics Incorporated is the pioneer of intelligent solid-state illumination technologies. The company designs, manufactures and markets an award-winning line of products that apply the practical and aesthetic benefits of LEDs to transcend the limits of traditional light sources for use in professional, consumer, and OEM and licensing applications. Its flagship line of technologies leverage a patented layer of digital intelligence, called Chromacore®, to generate and control millions of colors and dynamic lighting effects. Color Kinetics leads the industry in solid-state lighting innovation, including the custom engineered Chromasic® microchip, and holds a growing patent portfolio encompassing a number of emerging digital technologies. Founded in 1997, the company is privately held and is headquartered in Boston, MA with offices in the UK, China, and a joint venture in Japan. More information can be found at http://www.colorkinetics.com.
Contact Info
|
