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Tridonic shares latest innovations at customer event By: Ilana Koegelenberg T ridonic, a global technology leader pipeline. Heindl cited Tridonic’s patent productivity as evidence of its commitment management platforms for projects ranging from single boardrooms to large-scale hospital and university installations.
to R&D, noting that the company holds nearly 1.5 patents per employee and ranked second in Austria for newly registered patents last year. He introduced Tridonic’s Building Asset 360 market approach, which positions lighting as a building asset that provides data on its health and performance. It is focused on retrofit applications and built around three pillars of asset management, net-zero carbon, and people and well-being. “We want to make sure that lighting is seen as an asset in a building, and that asset managers, real estate companies, and facility managers understand what lighting can add to the value of their building,” said Heindl. Heindl went on to outline a number of key innovations in the pipeline. These include the Lifetime Indicator – an AI-driven feature that monitors the remaining useful life of LED drivers to enable predictive maintenance; Tridonic’s focus on solar lighting; a growing family of DC-input drivers; and the joint market penetration in partnership with Schneider Electric for microgrid applications. On the controls side, Tridonic is expanding its wireless portfolio with new mesh integrations that bridge indoor and outdoor installations in a single system. Investment also continues in the company’s lighting
in lighting, welcomed customers and industry professionals to The Country Club Johannesburg in Woodmead on 12 February for the second edition of its annual customer event. Building on the success of last year’s inaugural gathering in Cape Town, the event provided a platform for the company to outline its evolving market approach and showcase the innovations shaping its future direction. Setting the scene Charles Tewitz, managing director of Tridonic South Africa, opened proceedings with a welcome address that set the tone for the afternoon. Tewitz discussed Tridonic’s established market presence and its ongoing transformation from a pure component supplier to an integrated systems and services provider. He emphasised that this journey could only succeed with the support of the company’s key customers, a theme that resonated throughout the event. Innovation at the core Philipp Heindl, vice president of Business Development at Tridonic’s headquarters in Austria, delivered the keynote presentation, giving attendees a broad overview of the company’s innovation
Technology in action Leroy Baird, leading national sales manager at Tridonic South Africa, followed with a showcase of local projects delivered using Tridonic lighting controls, demonstrating the company’s growing systems and services capability in the South African market. Attendees then moved into a solutions deep dive led by Henk Rotman of Tridonic, who provided a live, hands- on demonstration of the Lifetime Indicator and other technologies presented during the keynote. The event closed with time for networking, giving customers the opportunity to connect with Tridonic’s team and explore how the company’s evolving portfolio can support their projects going forward.
From left: Charles Tewitz (Tridonic), Pieter van Aardt (BEKA Schréder), Danie van der Nest (BEKA Schréder), and Leroy Baird (Tridonic).
From left: Welcome Mkandla (Regent Lighting Solutions/ RLS), Wayne James (RLS), Henk Rotman (Tridonic), Randal Wahl (RLS), Kyle Davey (Tridonic), Ryan Tobin (RLS), and Chetan Lalloo (RLS).
Enquiries: www.tridonic.com
Ethical practice in the age of artificial intelligence tools for lighting design
before technical decisions are made. It is a valuable tool for shaping the narrative language of a space. Ethical and professional use of artificial intelligence in lighting design Despite the growing capabilities of AI tools, ethical practice requires clear boundaries. AI can support our process, but it cannot engage with clients, interpret lived experience, or apply professional judgement. It does not understand the subtleties of lighting standards, the behaviour of people in different environments, or the emotional expectations carried within a brief. Designers must therefore treat AI outputs as suggestions, not solutions. Every result requires validation, refinement, and contextual understanding. We must remain transparent with clients about AI use, and we must protect privacy and intellectual integrity at every stage. Used responsibly, AI can free designers from repetitive tasks and provide more time for the human aspects of lighting design that truly matter: imagination, empathy, and crafting meaningful experiences shaped by light for the betterment of humankind.
Rayon.design Rayon.design blends CAD functionality with AI assistance in a way that fits neatly into lighting design workflows. Designers can build concept-level lighting layouts, annotate drawings, drop in fixture symbols, and integrate visual assets, all within a single platform. The AI-supported features add real efficiency. You can generate mood board imagery, trace objects, develop CAD blocks, or stylise drawings without leaving the workspace. This helps bridge the gap between early thinking and structured layout development, reducing the repetitive tasks that often slow conceptual work. Midjourney Midjourney remains one of the most expressive tools available for atmospheric lighting imagery. It interprets lighting prompts with an artistic sensibility that makes it ideal for exploring mood, emotion, and narrative. Whether you need scenes with warm golden-hour light, cool moonlight, diffuse softness, or dramatic high-contrast conditions, Midjourney produces visuals with remarkable character. For conceptual lighting design, these images help clients and collaborators grasp the emotional direction of a project long
early concepts. Beyond idea generation, ChatGPT can help prepare written content for presentations, refine communication, or create drafting notes that support the design team. It does not replace professional reasoning, but it does help move thoughts from rough to clear in a short amount of time. Nano Banana Nano Banana excels at rapid visual exploration. Type in a description of the atmosphere or lighting quality you have in mind, and it will generate expressive images within seconds. For designers who rely on visual cues to test directions early, this immediacy is incredibly valuable. It allows you to adjust lighting softness, contrast, colour, or direction using simple language. This makes it useful for building mood boards or exploring emotional tone without using technical rendering tools. It offers the creative looseness of sketching, but with far more visual impact. Rendair.AI Rendair.AI takes things a step further by offering photorealistic imagery from relatively rough inputs. Sketches, photographs, simple drawings, or models can be transformed into convincing visuals that help clients and colleagues understand the design direction from the outset. For conceptual lighting work, this is especially useful. You can test materials, shadow behaviour, composition, and lighting effects without investing hours in detailed modelling. It also allows quick comparison between variations, making it easier to refine atmosphere and visual intent before moving into more technical stages.
By: Daniel Hammond, lighting designer at BHA Lighting Design and Educator at BHA School of Lighting A rtificial intelligence (AI) has arrived in lighting design with remarkable speed, and whether we like it or not, it is already influencing how we think, explore, and communicate ideas. In the right hands, these tools can open creative doors. They help us sketch out concepts, test narratives, and visualise atmospheres long before any technical modelling begins in lighting design software like Dialux or Relux. Experts in the industry believe AI will not replace the depth of knowledge, intuition, and lived experience that a qualified lighting designer brings to every project, as lighting design is fundamentally human-centred. It demands empathy, spatial understanding, and an appreciation for the subtle ways people react to light – qualities that AI cannot replicate. What it can do is support us, produce concept ideas, and free us from some of the heavy lifting that slows the creative process. With ethical practice at the forefront, here is a closer look at a selection of AI platforms that designers already use to enrich the concept phase and streamline their workflow. ChatGPT ChatGPT has become a surprisingly useful companion in the early stages of design. It can help break through creative blocks, organise thoughts, or offer alternative ways of expressing a concept. Designers can feed it a project brief, a mood, or a narrative direction and receive structured ideas in return. The tool is fast, articulate, and particularly helpful when developing
Enquiries: www.bhalighting.co.za
SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS
MARCH 2026
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