Thomas D.C. Little
Applications of Sensors in Smart Lighting for Energy Efficiency, Health, and Productivity
The lighting industry has recently been upended with the introduction of LEDs as a viable replacement to conventional incandescent and fluorescent lighting. Concurrent with this transformation is the proliferation of low-cost sensor technologies and device networking capabilities. This trifecta has created a broad set of opportunities to develop new technologies, control paradigms, and applications for interacting with light. In the NSF Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center, we investigate and develop novel lighting solutions to improve energy efficiency in smart spaces and to drive improvements in the health and productivity of their occupants. In the talk I will explore current research activities in the Center, and specifically efforts addressing the creation of interactive, networked sensing and control in fully instrumented smart spaces for humans.
Biography:
Thomas D.C. Little is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Boston University. He is Associate Dean for Educational Initiatives in the College of Engineering, and Associate Director of the NSF Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center -- a collaboration of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of New Mexico, and Boston University.
His recent efforts include research in video sensor networks and streaming in wireless settings, ubiquitous optical networking with visible light, vehicle-to-vehicle communications, and the application of wireless sensors in health monitoring.
Dr. Little received his BS degree in biomedical engineering from RPI in 1983, and his MS degree in electrical engineering and PhD degree in computer engineering from Syracuse University in 1989 and 1991. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, a member of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies and a member of the Association for Computing Machinery.