LRC Congratulates Kai-Di Peng
The 2025 IESNYC Thesis Awards celebrate outstanding academic work in lighting design and research, highlighting the creativity and dedication that drive innovation in the field. This year, the IESNYC is honored to recognize Kai-Di Peng, Hyesoo Chun, and Veronica Gonzalez for their exceptional work and creative vision. Each recipient receives a $2,500 award, along with the recognition and encouragement of the broader IESNYC community.
See the original IESNYC post here.
Kai-Di Peng
Master of Science in Architectural Sciences (Lighting) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Peng was recognized for her thesis, “Development of a 3D-Printed Optic for an LED Accent Light Used in Museum Applications.”
With a background in architecture and firsthand experience seeing how profoundly light shapes space and health, Kai-Di sought to explore lighting more deeply through the Lighting Research Center’s master’s program. Her thesis rethinks the optical design of the traditional framing projector, which typically uses four mechanical “fins” to crop light to the shape of a painting—inevitably wasting any light blocked from exiting the fixture. Instead, Kai-Di developed a custom optical element that redirects light precisely onto the target area. Using LightTools to raytrace and design a lens tailored to a specific COB LED module, she created and hand-finished a 3D-printed prototype, along with a printed lens holder to mount it for testing. Through iterative adjustments to the lens geometry and careful measurements of luminous flux transmittance and beam shape, her work demonstrated how additive manufacturing and optical design can reduce waste and optimize museum accent lighting.
“It's a great honor to receive the IESNYC Thesis Award,” Kai-Di shared. “It’s a recognition of the value of research in general, and of the subject I worked so hard on.” She also highlighted how meaningful the IESNYC community is for emerging professionals: “The IESNYC is a great advocate, providing students and EPs a stage to show their talent and hosting events where we can learn from predecessors and make valuable connections in the professional field.”
About the IESNYC Thesis Awards from IESNYC:
The IESNYC Thesis Awards is an annual monetary award given to students selected by their professors for demonstrating excellence in lighting design and/or research, and represent the intellectual insight, rigor, and quality standards as set forth by their respective school departments and each student’s thesis committee. Recipients must be a degree candidate in a graduate-level lighting program at the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID), Parsons School of Design at the New School, or Lighting Research Center (LRC), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) School of Architecture. Recipients have the opportunity to present their thesis projects to the New York City lighting community at a special presentation event and eligible for consideration to be sent to the IES Annual Conference and present their work.
