2006 Senior Thesis Kick Off Speaker
The AE department was pleased to host the annual AE Senior Thesis Kickoff Seminar on April 27, 2007 at the Nittany Lion Inn. The featured speaker was Mr. Charles Israel, Principal of Lighting Design Alliance who spoke about “A Consultant’s Impact on the World.” The seminar featured a visual tour of numerous projects by his firm, highlighting the scope, participation and ultimate solutions for a variety of projects around the world.
Chip Israel (B.A.E. 1984) has been a lighting designer for over 20 years. In 1992, he founded Lighting Design Alliance, a full-service architectural lighting design firm, with a highly-select team of lighting-design professionals who now serve a variety of clients worldwide. His award-winning designs ranges from building facade lighting, custom fixture design, corporate office spaces, to theme hotels and resorts. Some landmark projects that he has designed include: First Interstate World Tower, Sanwa Plaza at Figueroa & Wilshire, Sony High Definition Post Production, Mission: Bermuda Triangle, Disney's Wilderness Lodge, UCLA Site Lighting Master Plan, Oakley Technical Center, Disney Institute, and Disney's All Star Resort.
In addition, Israel has been an instructor at UCLA and the American College of Applied Arts in the field of interior lighting. He has been a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California on the topic of Lighting and Daylighting for Architecture.
He is a member of the Board of Directors and Director of Education at the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), and serves as President of the IALD Education Trust. He is Past President of the Designers Lighting Forum; and a member of the Hospitality Committee and Bridges and Building Committee with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). He also serves on the Board of Directors for the La Sfacciata Lighting Academy.