Amy Lamé
Amy has a long and successful track record as a leader and collaborator in culture and creative industries, communities and broadcasting. She is the Founding Director of 24hr Cities, a global consultancy dedicated to transforming the way we live, work and play in cities at night. Appointed by the Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan, she served as London’s first Night Czar from 2016-2024, putting the UK and London on the map as a global leader of night time advocacy, policy and research.
The co- founder of club night and artist collective Duckie, Amy created, promoted and hosted groundbreaking Olivier-award winning LGBTQ+ events for over 27 years. Her broadcasting career began in 1995 on BBC2 and has taken in all major UK TV and radio stations. She currently presents weekend mornings on BBC Radio 6Music. Her debut book, From Prejudice to Pride – the first LGBTQ+ history book for young people – was published by Hachette in June 2017. Amy served as Mayoress of the London Borough of Camden in 2010-11 and spent her year highlighting the history and culture of local live music and nightlife. She currently serves on the English Heritage London Blue Plaques Panel, advising and supporting staff working on the scheme and considering recommendations suitable for commemoration.
In 2018, Amy was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from University of East London, and appointed Honorary Professor at UCL/University College London. She has received numerous awards, including recognition as a National Treasure as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee; the Freedom of the City of London; the Music Week / Women in Music Champion Award, and the Washington College Alumni Citation. Originally from New Jersey USA, Amy is a dual citisen and has been a Londoner for over 33 years.
Teresa Beazley
Teresa Beazley is the Commercial & Training Manager at The LIA and leads a wide-ranging portfolio of industry education, with a focus on competency, behavioural development, and sector-wide standards. With a background in organisational development, HR, and behavioural leadership, her work challenges conventional CPD and focuses on shifting how capability is measured and developed across lighting and manufacturing.
Luke Cook
Luke has worked in the electrical industry for over 20 years, he has managed the Quality Assurance and Commissioning department before transitioning to lead the Integrated Systems Department following this he went on to lead the Health & Safety department.
A technically qualified electrical engineer, he also holds a NEBOSH certificate and is a Technical IOSH member. Bringing extensive expertise in compliance, safety, and operational excellence. Luke has displayed his excellent cross functional team leadership skills as well as time management throughout his career at Darke & Taylor, additionally Luke is Vice Chair of the Electrical Contractors Association Skills committee which plays a vital role in influencing skills policy and operation of skills systems across England, Wales and northern Ireland.
Tricia Smikle
Tricia's journey with the RNIB began in 2015 as a Partnerships Manager, collaborating with the NHS in London and representing RNIB on the Board of Governors at Moorfields Eye Hospital. As a Senior Project Manager, Triciaspearheaded the award-winning Grimaldi Building Project, ensuring that inclusive design was at the forefront of this groundbreaking retrofit.
Now, Tricia is a key member of the CEO Office at RNIB, driving strategic cross-organizational programs and continuing to showcase tours of the Grimaldi Building. Through these tours, Tricia shares the inspiring story of the power of stakeholder engagement in accessible design.
With a deep passion for addressing health inequality, Tricia has dedicated many years to making a difference in the charity and disability sectors.
Benz Roos
Benz studied Architectural Design at the Royal Art Academy, The Hague in The Netherlands.
During this time he developed a passion for lighting design and consequently went on to study for a Masters in Architectural Lighting Design at the University of Wismar in Germany. In 2008 Benz joined Speirs Major Light Architecture as an Assistant Designer and was promoted to Design Associate in 2017. In 2020 he was made Associate Partner. His ambition is to bring more imagination into the experience of a space – if applied to fantastic architecture and public
realm, light can make the experience for people even better.
Benz has worked on a number of projects including the multi-award winning Gasholders London in the King’s Cross development, the City of London Lighting Strategy, and the innovative Lights over Kruunuvuorenranta in Helsinki, Finland. He was also integral to the design for ‘In Lumine Tuo’, an animated light installation in Utrecht, The Netherlands which won the top prize in lighting design, the IALD Radiance Award, in 2014 as well as the recently completed reimagining of the
design which has now become permanent. Other recently completed projects include Taikoo Place development in Hong Kong, Broadgate Estate in London and the public realm lighting design at Canada Water.
Benz has a keen interest in research and development, helping to design the award-winning street lighting luminaire Aeroblades which was developed with Cree Inc. He also collaborated on the Eira luminaire with Fagerhult, and most recently, on the new lighting fixture ‘CELLS’ with manufacturer Reggiani. He was a key member of the design team for the Third Age of Light research project and led the design for the ground-breaking ‘Our Time on Earth’ climate exhibition
at The Barbican Centre.
Kit Thavaseelan
Kit studied Architecture Part 1 and Part 2 at the University of Creative Arts in the UK where he gained a passion for designing story-driven spaces and realised light to be an important tool to express stories and the experience of different spaces.
Kit joined Speirs Major Light Architecture in 2022 as an Assistant Designer and has worked on a major retail development in China as well as two workplace developments in London.
Kit appreciates how designers at Speirs Major Light Architecture are encouraged to explore their interests through the different projects the studio works on. He has been able to work on installations and projects that work on combining sound and light.
Kit can speak Tamil and enjoys music production, creating and editing short films, and exploring different creating outlets.
David Atkinson
David Atkinson Lighting Design (DALD)’s founder, David Atkinson, was named Lighting Designer of the Year (UK Lighting Design Awards, 2011) and has won numerous international awards since forming practice more than 30 years ago. Many of its architectural schemes are informed by Atkinson’s early background in theatre, film, music and fashion lighting.
He studied at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art and worked in disciplines such as television and commercial presentations before entering the architectural lighting field. He still has an active interest in these areas in addition to being an Associate of the International Association of Lighting Designers and his many international public-speaking engagements.
Sebastián Mealla
Sebastián Mealla is the Co-Founder and CEO of ProtoPixel, a pioneering tool that enables anyone to build and make feel anything with light. With over 25 years of work across creative technology, innovation, and design, he blends business, research, and user-centric thinking to create tools that transform everyday environments.
Sebastián holds a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, and before founding ProtoPixel, he worked as an innovation manager at the Music Technology Group (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), bridging advanced AI tools into gaming, music, and health industries.
Kuldeep Vali
Kuldeep Vali is the founder of “RISE with AI,” a no-code AI mentor and consultant, and a former lighting leader with 25 years experience (incl. Philips).
Over the past three years, he reinvented his career through Wharton’s Digital Transformation program and Mindvalley’s AI Mastery program, where his project won the Best AI Product Award (2023). From that journey, he created the R.I.S.E. framework (Reimagine, Integrate, Show Up, Elevate) to help busy professionals adopt AI in weeks, not years. He has trained 100+ professionals in the last few months. With his Reimagine and AI-First approach, he now helps lighting designers and manufacturers integrate no-code AI to upskill and kick-start long-term AI transformation.
James Sherman
James Sherman is an international award-winning design consultant, focused on the development and execution of natural and artificial lighting strategies.
In recent years, he has collaborated with a wide range of distinguished clients, including multi-national technology/media companies, national culture organisations, and private VIP’s, to deliver specialist lighting solutions for high-profile projects around the world.
His enduring passion to search for simple, powerful artistry using a strong basis of scientific capability has led him through an wide breadth and scale of projects - from the design of lighting strategies for global retail project roll-outs and the development of unique, cutting-edge lighting products to support them, to the invention of sophisticated workflows, tools, and devices to delve deeply into the dynamics that govern the relationship between natural phenomena and human perception, psychology, well-being, and delight.
Specific fields of interest include computer graphics, material science, artificial intelligence, and data visualisation.