Bill Attardi
Attardi Marketing

In 2005, Bill Attardi celebrated 40 years in the lighting business. His first full time job after 3 years in Army Security was as a sales rep for Westinghouse Lamp in NYC. Humble beginnings led to executive positions with Westinghouse, Philips, USI Lighting, and part owner in Wellmade Products. In 1994 he founded Attardi Marketing, a strategic marketing and training company. He has an MBA in marketing and is an Adjunct Professor at Monmouth University and Brookdale Community College in NJ.

Bill's award winning Create Demand Selling™ training sessions have been widely acclaimed as the best in its field for channel of distribution sales people that sell into the energy conservation market. Industry leaders agree it is a true learning experience for the many who have participated so far. Over 1500 electrical distributor sales people and independent reps, and over 500 ESCO and Utility sales people have attended in the last four years. Affiliated Distributors (A-D) gave it their 1996 Marketing Excellence Award as the Most Comprehensive and Effective Effort Focused on End Users.



Jon DiGesu
Osram Sylvania

Jon DiGesu is director of brand strategy, a position he was named to in September 2002. He is responsible for marketing research, brand-platform development and positioning, advertising, and sponsorships.

Prior to this, he was the director of marketing communications for the General Lighting division since 1993. DiGesu had been manager of marketing communications for OSRAM Corporation in Montgomery, N.Y., since 1991. In 1987 he joined Siemens as a public relations supervisor. Previously, he held communications management positions with companies including Prudential, Chlorine Institute, and National Starch and Chemical, respectively.

Neall Digert
Solatube International

Neall Digert, Ph.D., MIES, Vice President of Commercial Market Development for Solatube International, specializes in the design and application of advanced lighting and daylighting systems for commercial building applications. Dr. Digert draws upon his expertise in the design and consulting arenas to build public awareness of new optical daylighting technologies, guide future product developments, new global sales and marketing strategies, and new design and application tools and protocols to support the successful integration of optical day lighting products into today’s commercial buildings. Dr. Digert holds a Bachelor of Science degree in architectural engineering, a Master of Science degree in building energy/civil engineering, and a Doctorate in building energy/civil engineering, all earned at the University of Colorado.

Patricia Di Maggio is a Commercial Engineer for Osram Sylvania, in the New York Metropolitan area. She works with the architectural lighting design & engineering community to develop specifications and provides technical support on products and industry issues. She supports the fixture manufacturers in providing technical assistance for new product design.

Ms. Di Maggio has an architectural design and lighting design background and teaches lighting design at the New York School of Interior Design.

She is on the Executive Board of Managers as Immediate Past President for the New York Section of the Illuminating Engineering Society. She is presently chairing the IESNY Centennial Committee.

Elizabeth Donoff
Architectural Lighting Magazine

Elizabeth Donoff is Editor of Architectural Lighting magazine. She joined the editorial staff in 2003. Prior to her entry into design journalism she worked in New York City architectural offices including FXFowle where she was part of the project teams for the Reuters Building at 3 Times Square and the new New York Times Headquarters. Donoff earned her Master of Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis.

Makarand “Chips” Chipalkatti
Osram Sylvania

Dr. Makarand "Chips" Chipalkatti is the Head of Corporate Innovation Management in OSRAM SYLVANIA INC. In this role, he seeks to facilitate the rapid assimilation and execution of innovations, sourced both internally and externally, and lead them towards new business creation. Previously, he was Director North America - Lamp Modules, for OSRAM Opto Semiconductors managing the LED Lighting Systems business in North America. In year 2000, Dr. “Chips” Chipalkatti was responsible for starting up and establishing the LED Lighting Systems business for Osram Sylvania’s General Lighting business.

Chips holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts; a M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University; and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, India.

Peter Jacobson since 1991 has been the Lighting Specialist for Con Edison and the liaison to the industry on all lighting-related issues supporting technical, research and facility-related lighting issues.

Jeff Johnston
Greystone Public Relations

Jeff Johnston founded LIGHTCongress in 2003 to foster a new and forward- thinking dialogue between the lighting industry and members of the media. Now in its sixth year, LIGHTCongress is the conceptual leader for manufacturers who foster change and encourage new ideas in a constantly evolving world and marketplace. Jeff has over 25 years of advertising, public relations and publishing experience, and has a grounded history in the lighting and energy sectors.

Mark Roush
Acuity Brands Lighting

In his role with Acuity Brands Lighting, Mark Roush is responsible for Program development in the “Center for Light+Space” – a NYC conferencing and education facility dedicated to the practical application of light in architecture as well as all brand, marketing and communications for the NYC office. Prior to that Mark has held several marketing and business development positions for lamp, luminaire and LED producers and integrators.

An active member of the lighting community, Mr. Roush is President of the International Association of Lighting Designers Education Trust and has been very involved in industry associations has served in a variety of committees since 1979. Mark is perhaps best known as script writer and co-emcee of the LightFair Innovation Awards for the past ten years.

He remains a creative and strategic marketeer with a strong technical and design background in lighting. Mr. Roush received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and has taught lighting on the faculties of two universities as well as teaching as a visiting instructor in numerous colleges and courses for the IESNA, IALD, IDEC, AIA, ASID and others in several national, regional and sectional programs.

Randy Sabedra
RS Lighting Design

Randy Sabedra has over twenty years of professional interior and exterior architectural lighting design experience and currently heads his own firm, RS Lighting Design. In addition, he is a lighting instructor in the Associate Interior Design and Architecture Programs at Parsons School of Design, and a lighting instructor in the Interior Design Department at the Art Institute of New York.

He earned his Bachelor of Architecture from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA and studied subsurface architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Fontainebleau, France. He began his career at the lighting design firms of H. M. Brandston & Partners and Kugler Tillotson Associates, where he was the lead designer on a wide variety of projects and received several IESNY Lumen and IALD Lighting Awards.

In 2005 Randy Sabedra was elected president of the Illuminating Engineering Society New York Section (IESNY) for a two-year term. He has held various positions at the IESNY since 2002, including serving as the organization's vice president and co-chair of the IESNY Education Committee and advisor on the Student Lighting Design Competition.

Bill Warren
Willard L. Warren Associates

Bill’s experience includes Regional Sales and Manufacturing Manager with Holophane and US Lighting Systems; Energy Conservation design and contracting with DMC (Division of Honeywell) and Forest Electric; Marketing with Neo Ray and Genlyte and Consulting Engineering with Segner and Dalton, Consulting Engineers.

A member of the NYC Electrical Code Revision and Interpretation Committee since 1971, Former Chair of the Board of Fellows of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), Author of the monthly “Energy Advisor” column in LD&A magazine,

Alumnus of Cooper Union, a member of the President’s Council, and a Director of the Cooper Union Research Foundation.

Clients include: New York Power Authority (NYPA), New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Consolidated Edison of New York and most recently, the NYC Department of Design and Construction for the study of NYC Street Lighting as a member of the OVI design team, and a number of manufacturers of lighting and controls equipment.