faces of the future - Illuminating Engineering Society

FUTURE LEADERS
MEGAN CHRISTEN
COOPER LIGHTING
PEACHTREE CITY, GA
CAREER CAPSULE
• Robert Besal Scholarship;
Jonas Bellovin Scholar
Achievement Award
• Listed as inventor on
multiple patent
applications
‘Presenting my
master’s thesis
topic at the
IES Annual
Conference
was extremely
rewarding’
Guidance from one of lighting’s
most revered educators, a welltimed
internship and some
course work during her years at the University
of Colorado at Boulder, helped
put Megan Christen on a career path to
product development. “During my junior
year of college, David DiLaura spurred
my interest in illumination engineering
in the broadest sense—this because I had
not been immersed in the intricacies of
any one discipline within lighting,” says
Christen, who is now associate product
manager-Outdoor for Cooper Lighting.
“An internship with ERCO Lighting as a
technical applications specialist exposed
me to products, manufacturing and
lighting design application. The junioryear
internship experience, in addition
to product-oriented courses, solidified
my desire to work on the product side of
the industry.”
After four years in a purely product
development role, Christen has now
taken on the marketing mantle in her
new position at Cooper. “The ongoing
challenge in the new marketing role is
weighing and comprehending the design,
cost and quality metrics which are
expected by our end-user, and prioritizing
those entities to benefit the largest
customer base.”
One of the pluses of working for a
manufacturer is that it provides a macro
view of the industry, says Christen. “I
enjoy the breadth of backgrounds and
talents of the people in our industrylighting
designers, architects, manufacturers’
representatives and engineers,
as well as the intricacies of how they
collaborate to advance our industry.”
Finally, Christen is quick to point out
that in many ways, we’re all a product
of our environment—in her case, the
University of Colorado, Boulder. “David
DiLaura and Bob Davis instilled in
their students’ work ethic an eagerness
for lifelong learning. Their passion for
the advancement of our industry resonated
with students and professionals,
and that enthusiasm and passion will
continue to proliferate in each of their
students despite both leaving traditional
academia.”
A FEW KIND WORDS: “Megan joined
Cooper Lighting as an intern while
working on her master’s degree. She
quickly took to designing optics and impressed
us enough to make her an offer
for permanent employment in our division
headquarters offices,” says Bart Ideker,
vice president, engineering, Cooper
Lighting. “Megan has been a key contributor
on many new product development
programs and is sought after by
many of our new product teams.”
DOWN THE ROAD: Christen will keep
her eye on matching products to customers.
“My goals in the next couple of
years include understanding customer
needs and the competitive landscape.
It’s my intention to ensure market relevance
with emerging products.”
Paul Tarricone
50
www.ies.org