12 Aug Say hello to the VLDC: Supporters of BHA SoL’s mission to educate & inspire – August 2025 Newsletter

We’re feeling especially grateful this month as we welcome the Virtual Lighting Design Community (VLDC) as our official webinar support partner. If you haven’t come across them yet, head over to www.vld.community and take a look around. It’s a vibrant space where lighting designers & professionals, educators, and enthusiasts come together to share knowledge, ideas, and inspiration.

VLDC is doing incredible work to support education and spread inspiration in the lighting design and built environment sectors; something that aligns beautifully with our mission at BHA School of Lighting. We’re thankful for their partnership and excited about what we can build together for our growing community of students and global network.

Why join the VLDC?

VLDC is a free global platform where lighting designers, educators, and enthusiasts come together to connect, learn, and grow. Whether you’re just starting out or deep into your lighting journey, VLDC is your space to engage, interact, and be inspired. As a member, you’ll get access to:

• Exclusive video content from leading voices in lighting
• Live events, interviews, demos, and Q&A sessions
• A rich knowledge base covering key lighting topics
• Supporter-driven spaces showcasing innovation and education
• A welcoming network to share ideas, start conversations, and collaborate

If you’re not already a VLDC member, now’s a great time to join. Membership gives you access to a wide range of online content, including Martin Klaasen’s LIGHT TALK podcast available on YouTube here & Spotify here. Martin is an award winning lighting designer, design consultant and lecturer with more than 30 years of experience in the lighting industry, and he is one of the founding members of the VLDC, Managing Partner at Nulty +, and Founder of Klaasen Lighting Design.

In a recent episode of Light Talk, BHA educators Phil Hammond and Dan Hammond joined Martin for a thoughtful conversation about the ethical use of artificial intelligence and the cognitive risks it may pose in the learning journey. It’s a fascinating listen and well worth your time, and we will share the podcast links as soon as it goes live.

Here’s what Daniel had to say about the experience: “It’s refreshing to be part of a conversation that doesn’t shy away from the tough questions. AI is changing how we learn and how we teach, and we need to stay curious, critical, and collaborative as we navigate that shift.” — Daniel Hammond.

Here’s a recent episode of Light Talk, where Martin explores the AI revolution in lighting design with Faraz Izhar.

VLDC’s recognition program: Lux Futurum Awards 2025

VLDC, in collaboration with the Zhu Rong team, is also calling for entries for this year’s Lux Futurum Awards or #LUFU2025. Submissions are open until 31 August 2025 and the winners will be announced at the LuFu Forum taking place in China on 30 October 2025.

The are three exciting future-orientated categories to enter:

Concept: For bold, imaginative ideas that push the boundaries of lighting design. This is where visionaries shine.
Products: Celebrating innovation in lighting technology, from fixtures and controls to materials and systems that elevate the user experience.
Projects: Honouring real-world applications that demonstrate excellence in lighting design, whether architectural, urban, or experiential.

Learn more about #LUFU2025 & submit your entry by visiting www.luxfuturum.com or watch the Virtual Informative Session below.

We’re also proud to share that Dan Hammond, BHA educator and Senior Lighting Design Engineer at BHA Lighting Design is serving as one of six adjudicators this year. The judging panel brings together a diverse and inspiring group of professionals:

• Claudia Paz (Peru): A pioneer in architectural and interactive lighting design, known for her award-winning work on heritage and public spaces at Claudia Paz Lighting Lighting Studio.
• Faraz Izhar (UAE): Lead designer at AE7 Dubai, blending sustainability, human-centric design, and emerging AI technologies.
• Jinkie De Jesus (Philippines): Founder of Light Plan Inc., and a leading voice in lighting education and Women in Lighting.
• Ju Li (China/UK): Architect and founder of Holmes Miller Architects China, with a humanistic and sustainable approach to design.
• Karen Owens (UK): Founder of Auricle Design Studio, exploring biophilic and salutogenic design through the lens of neuroscience.
• Lauren Dandridge (USA): Principal of Chromatic and educator at University of Southern California (USC), championing lighting equity and excellence in design.

 

We’re proud to be part of this global celebration of creativity and innovation, and we encourage you to submit your work or share the opportunity with someone who should. Dan and the judges cannot wait to start the judging process and they look forward to seeing your entry for #lufu2025.

In closing we once again extend a massive thank you to the VLDC for supporting BHA School of Lighting and our Enlightened Community webinars. You are such a positive force in the lighting world and we’re looking forward to what lies ahead.

VLDC Links

• Website: https://vld.community/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/vld.community/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/vld-community/
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/@vld.community
• Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/virtual-lighting-design-community/

 

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BHA SoL Student News & More…

 

Celebrating Excellence at BHA School of Lighting

We start off by congratulating Justice Limithemba Bhengu on his remarkable achievement of successfully graduating from the Advanced Diploma in Illumination Engineering. Justice’s work consistently demonstrated an exceptional level of detail, technical insight, and masterful engineeringy. His dedication and the quality of his portfolio of assignments truly set a high benchmark for future graduates, and he set a new record for completing second year course content in the shortest time of 7 months. We are very proud of Justice’s incredible achievement and we wish him all the best as he becomes even more of an assest to the team at SMEC, Durban, South Africa.

We encourage all current students and those wanting to enrol as a student to draw inspiration from Justice’s journey and aim to etch your own success stories onto our “Meet our Graduates” wall, proudly displayed on our website: www.bhaschooloflighting.co.za/about/meet-our-graduates.

Additionally, we also congratulate Dino Rozman who passed the First Year Examinations of the Advanced Diploma in Illumination Engineering and Syed Raed Ahmed, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on his successful completetion of the Foundation Lighting Course.

As always, we encourage all current students to remain focused, make every moment count, and embrace the discipline which is required to thrive in the lighting industry.

Embracing a New Chapter & Honouring Academic Progress

We extend a warm welcome to all our newly enrolled students, whether joining us for one of our specialised short courses or embarking on our two-year diploma programme.

• Fiona Reid, Randburg, South Africa – BHASL003C19: Advanced Diploma in Illumination Engineering Course
• Innocent Segoai, Johannesburg, South Africa – BHASL003C19: Advanced Diploma in Illumination Engineering Course
• Syed Raed Ahmed, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates – BHASL003C19: Advanced Diploma in Illumination Engineering Course
• Muhammed Shirin VS, Kerala, India – BHASL001C20: Foundation Lighting Course
• Mxolisi Brian Ndumo, Katlehong, South Africa – BHASL001C20: Foundation Lighting Course

 

To our students who successfully completed their First-Year examinations in July and are now stepping into Second Year, congratulations! The journey ahead promises to expand your understanding and elevate your professional capabilities to extraordinary heights.

To those students in both First-Year and Second-Year who are preparing for their exams, we share in the excitement and pride of watching your transformation. The road to graduation is a thrilling one, and each step forward is a celebration of growth.

First Year students preparing for the First Year examinations of our premier course are:

• Petrus Cilliers, Centurion, South Africa

 

Second Year students preparing for the Second Year examinations of our premier course are:

• Savas Seckin, Istanbul, Turkiye
• Ismael Thamer Al-Obaidi, Baghdad, Iraq

 

July Enlightened Community Highlights & What’s Next

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined our most recent webinar featuring Henk Rotman. Henk’s vast knowledge about lighting controls for the now and the future left a lasting impression on attendees and his passion for sharing his knowledge make him a treasured part of our Enlightened Community. We extend our gratitude and huge thanks to Henk for sharing his knowledge with us, and to our July event sponsor Tridonic for supporting this important conversation.

If you missed this inspiring session, catch up by watching it further down below or on the official BHA School of Lighting YouTube Channel. Don’t forget to subscribe and hot that notification bell so that you can always stay updated with our latest content.

Up next: we’re thrilled to announce our upcoming webinar, with by Tripti Sahni, Lighting Designer at Studio Trace (Mumbai, India) – EDIDA winner (Elle Decor Interior Design Award, 40under40 Winner and Michael Kalil Grant Award. Further below you can find more info about the next Enlightened Community event and book your place for what will most certainly be an eye-opening and inspiring presentation by Tripti, where she will focus on the creative side of lighting design for interior spaces. We hope to see you there.

August Student Birthdays

Finally, we extend birthday wishes to the following past & present students celebrating their special day this month of August 2025! We hope you all have an amazing day and the next journey around our star is a great one!

• Limitemba Justice Bhengu, Durban, South Africa (Graduate) – 3 August
• Kelvin Mwendia, Nairobi, Kenya – 3 August
• Savas Seckin, Istanbul, Turkey – 20 August
• Srishti Anand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 20 August
• John Tau, Taung, South Africa – 27 August
• Krishna Sandeep Vasamsetti, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 29 August
• Abner Naidoo, Durban, South Africa – 30 August
• Dino Rozman, Durban, South Africa – 30 August
• Sicelo Zitha, Johannesburg, South Africa – 31 August

 

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The Principal’s Pen

 

July was a very busy month. Our family from Madrid spent a month with us at home, my middle son, his wife and our one-year-old grandson. all the while being very busy with projects. More new projects continue to come in which will see us through for August and possibly September.

Some insight from BHA SoL: I am always surprised that the percentage of students who attend our webinars is so low. When I analysed their attendance at the last two webinars, student attendance represented between 12% and 16% of the total attendees. The reason for my concern is that the webinar content is very valuable, increases their knowledge and it is free.  The internationally renowned presenters are worth listening to and learning from.  I always learn something from the presenters and I encourage BHA students to strive to increase their knowledge at every opportunity.

It is appropriate that I extend our sincere appreciation to our international and proudly South African presenters for their readiness to engage with our lighting community and for the benefit you provide to our students and extended audience who are scattered around the world in all continents with exception being Antartica.

Daniel and I continue to learn more about AI. We listen to interviews and watch presentations by the acknowledged leaders and experts on AI in the world. It is astonishing to learn that AI as we know it today can be likened to primary school, it is still developing. We focus our learning on AI for the education and educational environment and on AI for lighting design and visualization.

This includes constant investigation into educational policies on the use of AI by students when completing assignments.  As we have previously published, the use of AI when completing assignments will result in penalisation.

We will renew our efforts of the revision of the modules which will include the addition of new content on subjects such as new aspects of Standards and Compliance, new lighting technologies, new lighting control technologies, AI in lighting and general usage and more.  The new content and course number will be launched on 1 January 2026.  BHA School of Lighting will without any doubt remain the leading lighting educational institute in the world.

In parting, it’s time to have a light moment. We recently went for dinner to a restaurant with a stunning view of Cape Town across table Bay from Blaauwberg.  My wife had been admiring the view of the lights across the bay.  She asked: “Why do the city lights twinkle?”

I duly explained to her that the light from across the bay travelled through many layers of air to reach our eyes.  Typically, as we know, when light travels from one medium to another more-dense medium, the light is refracted, in other words it is bent.  The twinkling light travels through many different layers of air which could be at different temperatures and being disturbed by sea breezes, it means that the light from the lights will be refracted many times before it enters our eyes.  In that way, they appear to twinkle.  The same principle applies to the twinkling stars when we admire the universe at night.

With best regards

Philip Hammond, Principal & Founder of BHA School of Lighting

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Upcoming Enlightened Community Events

 

Light Alchemy: Turning Interiors into experiences with Tripti Sahni (CPD Activity)

BOOK YOUR PLACE at www.bhaschooloflighting.co.za/webinars

Cost: Free of Charge

Date: 21 August 2025

Time: 5:45pm for 6pm – 7pm CAT/CET

Presenter: Tripti Sahni, Lighting Designer at Studio Trace (Mumbai, India) – EDIDA winner (Elle Decor Interior Design Award, 40under40 Winner and Michael Kalil Grant Award

About: Tripti Sahni is delighted to present “Light Alchemy”, a look at spaces where illumination is not just functional but emotional, atmospheric, and deeply intentional. This presentation explores the subtle art and science of lighting design—how light can shape perception, elevate mood, and define the soul of a space.

From sculpting architectural features to enhancing textures and creating dynamic ambiences, “Light Alchemy” demonstrates how thoughtful lighting becomes the invisible thread that ties together spatial storytelling. Discover how layers of light – ambient, task, and accent – can be choreographed like a symphony to create immersive environments in luxury residences, hospitality spaces, and experiential interiors.

This session will illuminate new ways of thinking about light, and how it can be used to connect the past & future.

More about BHA School of Lighting’s support partner: The Virtual Lighting Design Community is a global virtual network that empowers, inspires and educates the lighting design community. Always better together!

A place where we can exchange views on a variety of issues, share our knowledge and insights and informed debates on emerging topics. Vld.community is a virtual platform that will facilitate new ways of thinking and connecting innovative ideas that address global lighting issues.

Become a VLDC member at https://vld.community/

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New Video Alert! THE GROWING ROLE OF CONTROLS & WHAT IT MEANS FOR LIGHTING PROFESSIONALS with Henk Rotman of Tridonic

 

In this insightful BHA School of Lighting Enlightened Community session, Henk Rotman explores the rising importance of controls in modern lighting. As the industry evolves, the line between lighting experts and controls experts becomes clearer and the need for foundational knowledge in both is more critical than ever.

💡 Learn how controls enhance energy efficiency, improve user experience, and support sustainable lighting.
🌍 Discover strategies to bridge the gap between lighting and controls.
🇿🇦 Gain insights from one of South Africa’s leading voices in lighting innovation.

We extend our gratitude and huge thanks to Henk for sharing his expertise, and to our sponsor Tridonic for supporting this important conversation.

📺 Watch now on YouTube here.

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Join a Professional Lighting Institution or Community

 

We encourage all of our Advanced Diploma in Illumination Engineering students to apply for student membership for little or no fees at local and international professional lighting institutions and lighting network communities. By becoming a member you will gain access to further study material, courses, workshops, webinars & stipends.

BHA School of Lighting is proud to be affiliated with the the International Association of Lighting Designers, the Institute of Lighting Professionals, the Virtual Lighting Design Community, The Lighting Police, Women in Lighting and the Illumination Engineering Society of South Africa.

Find more info about each organisation and community here.

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