KU architectural engineering senior wins national light fixture design competition

LAWRENCE -- A University of Kansas student has won the top prize in a national design competition for light fixtures.

Mike Snyder, Omaha senior in architectural engineering, was named winner of the 2003 Robert Bruce Thompson Annual Student Light Fixture Design Competition. Snyder received $5,000, a trophy and a trip to an international illumination trade show in New York City.

The competition asks students to dream up a light fixture and submit their design proposal. This year's contest sought designs for a task lamp to be used in a library setting.

Snyder's submission was the Lite Book. His concept was to design a fixture similar in size and shape to a laptop computer. Instead of sitting flat on a table the lamp balances vertically on what would be the front edge of the laptop. The screen panel then would swing up to create an adjustable overhead light for the work surface. Snyder envisioned the lamp would have thin acrylic panels that also could swing up and allow the user to tune the amount of light to his or her preference.

"It functioned like a book," Snyder said of the design. "The book could open up so there was flexibility on where you want the light to go."

His entry in the contest was the result of projects under way in the Architectural Engineering Design II course. His particular class tackles a variety of projects focusing on lighting.

"It was our second project of the semester," said Snyder. "We only had a month to do it."

All students in the class had an opportunity to participate in the contest. Snyder said his classmates produced a wide variety of designs that received strong reviews from the instructor, Bruce Yarnell. But Snyder had no idea that his design would stand above all the others in this national competition and was surprised when he learned of the award.

"I was pretty excited," he said. "I just started calling friends and family who knew about the competition."

Snyder expects to graduate in May. He has accepted a position with Flack & Kurtz consultants in San Francisco. But first he will attend LIGHTFAIR, the international illumination trade show, May 3 through 8 in New York City. More than 19,000 professionals in architecture, design and engineering from around the world, as well as end-user professionals, are expected to attend.