Today’s vehicle lighting systems are almost unbelievably more complex than ever before. The evolution of light sources and the new electronic devices for their control, the development of intricate dynamic functions like glare-free high beam (which is in turn rapidly evolving toward pixel lighting), ever-more-extreme design and styling demands, and the advent of autonomous driving…all these pose new challenges in the lighting field, and to its practitioners.
All this, and today’s compressed product development timeframes, mean we need more and more highly competent engineers who have a good, working knowledge of the field right from the start. To make it so, the new ELS (Embedded Lighting Systems) educational chair was created. This program, fully in English and with high-level international training from design to production, includes all the disciplines used in embedded lighting: optics and photonics, systems, simulations, mechatronics, and design.
The 14-module program’s inaugural run will span from September 2015 to February 2016 in the Paris area, followed by a six-month internship and thesis from February to July. Instruction is through a cream-of-the-crop list of schools and institutes including the Institut d’Optique graduate school, ESTACA, and Strate Ecole de Design. The course of study is open to applicants with a master’s degree or professional experience deemed equivalent. Research is the second activity of the chair, specifically in the field of embedded lighting, with specific contracts from the industry together with ELS’ own resources and those of the prominent IOGS and ESTACA laboratories. I am convinced, surely ELS training will be very fruitful for all companies involved in automotive lighting.
And at the same time, it’s well to remember the enormous immersive training opportunities built into ISAL, coming up at the end of next month. For new engineers and engineering students, attending ISAL is a hugely valuable chance to absorb a broad range of knowledge and meet a great many people all directly apposite to the vehicle lighting field. If you’ve got new hires, interns, or student mentees setting out to learn what we do in this world…send them to ISAL, and when they come back bubbling with new knowledge, consider signing them up for ELS.
Sincerely yours
DVN Editor in Chief