Innovation and Education
By Garrett Rudolph
LED research and development has grown tremendously in recent years, particularly for horticultural applications.
And the future of this high-tech, high-efficiency lighting appears brighter than ever, with partnerships like the one set up between Colorado State University and Philips Lighting in January.
CSU and Philips recently established a long-term collaborative partnership by creating an education, research and training facility powered by modern LED lighting in Fort Collins.
The installation of the LED lighting in the new CSU Horticulture Center is expected to be completed in early 2016.
“Partnerships between CSU and the business community help enhance the quality of the educational experience for our students,” said Ajay Menon, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, in a January story published by The Coloradoan. “The state-of-the-art installation of LED lighting in the new Horticulture Center will advance the quality and impact of the teaching, research and engagement that our Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture program has maintained for decades.”
The partnership will allow the two entities to perform collaborative research and focused cultivation studies to maximize advanced LED lighting for horticultural activity. This research is anticipated to optimize desired plant characteristics, including the nutritional value of city farm-produced foods, irrigation strategies, climate impact, soil conditions, thermal effects, year-round production, greenhouse food, hops, floriculture and turf, while dramatically reducing the power consumption of lighting to indoor grow facilities.
Although marijuana is legal in Colorado, the research and development facility will not study cannabis at all because CSU is a public university that receives federal funding, among other reasons.
However, cannabis growers will benefit from the scientific research performed there.
The idea for a new research facility was spurred by the construction of the university’s $220 million on-campus football stadium and the subsequent relocation of the W.D. Holley Plant Environmental Research Center greenhouses, said Steven Newman, greenhouse crops extension specialist and professor of floriculture at CSU.
“We saw this as an opportunity to work with a global leader in LED solutions that has depth, longevity and an appreciation for close collaborations with
universities like CSU,” Newman said in a press release.
CSU will be one of the first institutions to have access to some of the most advanced LED lighting technology in the world, said Ron DeKok, business development director of horticulture LED solutions for Philips North America.
“This is an opportunity for research collaboration between academia and a technology world leader in advanced LED products,” DeKok said. “The new CSU Horticulture Center will showcase new technology in LED lighting not previously installed anywhere else in the world within the horticulture realm at a leading institution.”
The new facility will help set up internships and cooperative learning opportunities for graduate and postgraduate students.
“This partnership with Philips provides CSU with much-needed advanced tools to keep at the forefront of new technology development, innovation and practical, real-world education of our students,” said Mark Wdowik, assistant vice president for research and industry partnerships at CSU.