Ruth Kelly Waskett

Hoare Lea


Ruth is a lighting consultant with a background in lighting design, engineering, and academia. She’s driven by the need to champion great lighting in buildings, with a focus on integrating natural and artificial light. She has a particular interest in the real-life issues associated with automated building technology, particularly those that offer daylight and lighting control. She also has an interest in the use of immersive technologies to help understand the impact of design decisions.

Ruth was President of the Society of Light & Lighting (SLL) in 2021-22, a part of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). She is a regular contributor at events in the Lighting and Built Environment industries. In 2022 she spoke at Hoare Lea’s flagship event, Designing the Future at the Royal Institution. Her talk, Blurred Lines, addressed the topic of how immersive technology and the metaverse could transform our understanding of reality and help us to design better.

Ruth has contributed to several lighting guidance documents produced by CIBSE, SLL and others. She is a Board member of CIBSE and a visiting lecturer at University College London, with involvement in the MSc in Light & Lighting and MEng in Engineering & Architectural Design. Ruth was a winner in the Engineering category of the 2022 Women in Lighting Awards.

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