Two students of the American University in Dubai’s (AUD) won an energy saving lighting products and façade lighting competition at a recently concluded lighting exhibition in Dubai.

Sara Kamel and Soheil Ansari from AUD’s Departments of Interior Design and Architecture, respectively, won the competition organized by AUD, Mazarii Interiors, and Messe Frankfurt, and supported by the Professional Lighting Design Association (PLDA) with GE as the main sponsor of the Light Middle East 2011 Exhibition.

“The General Electric lighting competition has been an enlightening experience for students at the American University in Dubai, as not only young talents were given a unique opportunity to shine but also offered a workshop run by professionals where they could acquire knowledge about the latest in the lighting industry,” said Dr Nabyl Chenaf, chair of Architecture, and associate professor of Architecture and Interior Design at AUD.

“Both Soheil and Sara have managed to put to use courses such as interior lighting design, BIM (building information modeling), Design studios as well as advanced rendering software along with the valuable guidance of workshop leaders to win the prizes for Façade and interior lighting, respectively.”

In regards to the challenges pertaining to the Energy Saving Lighting Products category, students had to use energy saving light in an indoor environment, which was aesthetically pleasing as well.

“My main aim to achieve in this competition was to create a light fixture that not only does it look aesthetically good but it also benefits its owner. I achieved that combining a modern designed fixture and the latest technology in LED that General Electric offered therefore, the best of both worlds,” said Kamel.

As for the façade lighting category, students had to create a new way of illuminating external windows in order to create a new façade of buildings.

“The criterion was to design a new way of illuminating buildings. After thorough research and conceptualizing, I selected Dubai Metro as my subject building. My concept was to use lighting as an indicator for metro passengers in addition to aesthetic purposes,” said Ansari.

“This competition provided an interesting learning experience into lighting design and therefore I would like to thank all organizers involved for this unique chance,” he added.

Ansari and Kamel have won a trip to the Light+Building Show in Frankfurt, Germany, to be held from April 15 to 20, 2012. – TradeArabia News Service