Professor Peter Raynham presented with prestigious lifetime achievement award

Peter Raynham, Professor of the Lit Environment at the UCL Institute of Environmental Design and Engineering, has been presented with the Society of Light and Lighting's President's Medal at the society's AGM in Manchester.

The Society of Light and Lighting is part of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and is recognised worldwide as an authority on all aspects of light, lighting and its applications. The Society represents the interests of all those practising in the application of light and lighting as well as research and education.

The award, which is the highest accolade presented by the lighting professional body, recognises a significant and lifetime contribution to lighting. After a 20-year career in the lighting industry, Peter joined the UCL Institute of Environmental Design and Engineering in 1996. His industrial career included working on lamp and luminaire development before progressing to lighting design and application. His initial role at UCL was as a Research Fellow, working on a number of projects involving the areas of lighting simulation and lighting for the public realm. He later progressed to the role of lecturer and then senior lecturer, where he supervised a number of research projects and took on additional teaching duties. Peter was appointed Professor of the Lit Environment in 2018.

Peter began his career in lighting 1976, working for a lamp company developing lamp making processes and later joining a luminaire company, specialising in lighting design and lighting applications. Peter joined UCL in 1996 as a Research Fellow where he worked on a number of projects involving the areas of lighting simulation and lighting for the public realm. He progressed to the role of lecturer and then senior lecturer where he supervised a number of significant research projects and took on additional teaching duties. Peter was appointed Professor of the Lit Environment in 2018. 

He has been very active in the lighting profession where he has contributed to the work of a number of organisations including the Society of Light and Lighting, the Institution of Lighting Professionals and the International Association of Lighting Designers. Peter has also been very active in the area of standardisation, has chaired a series of committees in the British Standards Institution, and represented the UK in a range of international standards committees. He has contributed to standards on a wide range of lighting topics and is currently supporting the publication of more than 40 standards.

This is the second President's Medal to be awarded to the UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, with visiting professor Florence Lam awarded the medal in 2021.