National Cheng Kung University Wins First Cree Cup with “Lighting to Share” Submission

After seven months of intense competition, the first Cree Cup - Creative LED Lighting Design Contest for China university students jointly organized by the China Association of Lighting Industry (CALI) and Cree, Inc. has ended, culminating in an award ceremony held at the China LED Technology and Application Forum. Finalist works were showcased in the “China Hotel Lighting Exhibition.”

Nearly 1,000 students, representing approximately 100 universities in China, submitted hundreds of design entries. Fifty designs were chosen for the final round of judging. Winners were chosen based on the following criteria: creativity, practicality, marketability, LED performance, artistic quality and energy efficiency. The judging panel consisted of LED industry experts, scholars and industrial design/lighting application experts. First prize, including RMB 20,000 (approximately US$3,000), was awarded to Huang Jiongzhang, Du Weizheng and Ni Yujun from Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University. Titled “Lighting to Share,” the design uses a magnetic effect to form different lighting modes, emphasizing lighting effects and LED lighting features.

Second place prizes, including RMB 10,000 (approximately US$1,500) each, were given to Jiang Lin, Liu Yanliang, Chen Shan and Zhenma Quzong from Tibet University and Gu Weiwei from Tongji University. The design work from Tibet University, “Solar LED Multi-Functional Butter Lamp,” combines LED lighting and solar energy with traditional Tibetan lamp design, and includes integrated features like cell phone charging. “Guang Ling,” designed by Gu Weiwei, is portable, and uses sound control and LED features to meet the needs of the deaf or those hard of hearing.

Team advisors, Professor Hao Luoxi from Tongji University and Professor Yuan Zongnan from Chung Yuan Christian University in Taiwan, received special mentor awards for their efforts in supporting the students.

Dou Linping, secretary general of the China Association of Lighting Industry and member of the judging panel, commented, “We were delighted to see so many wonderful designs during the competition and we’d like to congratulate all the winning teams and universities. We’re happy to see that the submitted works were not only highly creative but also functionally sound. As the LED lighting market continues to grow, we will need more and more talents in this field, and we will continue to offer platforms like this contest to students in order to facilitate their growth and knowledge.”

Excellence awards were presented to all the finalists by the organizing committee. Chris James, Cree vice president of market development, stated, “Cree partnered with the China Association of Lighting Industry to organize this contest. Our core objectives were to develop LED technology as the lighting source of the 21st century and to discover and motivate highly innovative and high-caliber LED design talents We are pleased to see such outstanding works submitted by undergraduates, and we sincerely thank the advisors and universities for their support!”

Prof. Zhan Qingxuan, a renowned scholar in the building lighting industry, and Professor and PhD supervisor at the School of Architecture in Tsinghua University, congratulated the winners and praised the instructions that Cree had given to the students during the competition. During the contest, the contestants received extensive support from Cree, from instruction on the techniques of LED design and provision of LED components, to the funding of LED components.