If you ask me what I retain two weeks after ISAL, my first reaction would be to confirm it was a pleasant and fruitful congress which achieved a smashing success. After that, I would raise three points:
1) Engineering resources: these last few years we have seen just the beginning of the development of LEDs with a huge range of styling differentiation and functionality from affordable headlamps to premium range equipment. At ISAL we saw a lot of lectures presenting new technologies: marking light, DMD chip, ceramic HID, matrix beam, laser headlamps…the list goes on. We have to pay careful attention to devote the necessary resources to develope all these new technologies and techniques.
2) Involvement of automakers in lighting: they want to develop their own tools, simulation being one of them, and their own research lighting team with experts working with a long-term view. Car makers are investing in lighting to better guide their stylists and also to better communicate with their suppliers.
3) Display booths and show cars are great ways to communicate. The 600 attendees could see, discover, share, ask questions, and within 2 days, experience the cutting edge in automotive lighting. For most of attendees, and mainly the 60% non-German, it was a unique opportunity to discover what’s in the pipelines.
Indeed, this was the best ISAL yet, and proved that a well-prepared congress can be of utmost benefit for the lighting community.
Thank you again, Prof. Khanh!
DVN General editor