Light Interaction and Human Health/Circadian Rhythm

Speaker: James Murphy

Abstract:
Artificial lighting was one of the foundational businesses that started GE, and the evolution from incandescent to fluorescent to LED-based lighting has improved the energy efficiency of lighting products dramatically. Additionally, new LED-based lighting applications such as the backlight for displays (smart phones, monitors, laptops, tablets, TVs) are becoming more ubiquitous every year. This talk moves beyond energy efficiency of artificial lighting/displays to discuss how human health and circadian rhythm may be influenced by light.

About our speaker:
Jim Murphy received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder under the supervision of Professor Arthur Nozik conducting research on the synthesis and characterization of semiconductor nanocrystals for solar cell applications.

He spent 2006 as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducting femtosecond, time-resolved spectroscopy studies on nanocrystalline films. He was then hired as a Research Scientist by OSRAM Sylvania Inc., where he spent the next 3 years working on phosphor development and at the Towanda, PA facility as it transitioned to become Global Tungsten and Powders Corp.

For the past thirteen years he has worked at GE Global Research Center on various programs, mostly relating to energy efficient LED lighting and display applications as well as scintillator development/medical imaging. He has over 80 patent applications and publications in the field of inorganic luminescent materials.

Jim graduated in 1996 with a B.A. in Chemistry from Franklin and Marshall College and spent a few years teaching high school chemistry and serving as a wrestling coach before attending graduate school .

Note: The meeting location is 309 Alplaus Ave, Alplaus, NY, and the building is at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Bruce Drive. Please park in the paved lot adjacent to this building. Do not park in the restricted area in front of the building that houses the fire trucks. We will meet in the Multipurpose Room (entrance is on the North side of this building).