Ryan Conover to Teach Light and Health at Kent State University

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Ryan Conover Project Manager

The Lighting Practice is at the forefront of studying and implementing research on light and human health to best support and improve clients’ communities and lives. Many of the firm’s designers are thought leaders in human-centric lighting, an approach that focuses on human wellbeing in addition to function and aesthetics.

The Lighting Practice is proud to announce that Ryan Conover, EDAC, Associate IALD, is an adjunct professor within Kent State University’s College of Architecture & Environment Design. Ryan will be developing a curriculum and teaching lighting as part of the Master of Healthcare Design and Graduate Certificate in Health Systems and Facilities Design programs.

The masters and online certificate programs are catered to professionals from various fields and backgrounds, including early- or mid-career architects and interior designers, educators, construction management professionals, and others. Students develop an understanding of how human-centered design strategies inform healthcare operations and quality of environment.

Ryan is highly qualified to teach this program. He earned an Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC) from The Center for Health Design, which emphasizes use of the evidence-based design process in finding research-based solutions that are likely to achieve a client’s goals. Ryan is currently working with multiple healthcare systems to design and implement human-centric lighting strategies that will potentially benefit patients and staff respectively.

As a member of The Lighting Practice’s Light + Health Group, Ryan works closely with Michael Barber, Caitlin Bucari, Lillian Knoerzer, and Evan Wilson to study the latest research on circadian lighting and identify fixtures that support this human-focused approach to design.

“The idea that lighting can improve people’s well-being is one of the main reasons I am drawn to designing for the healthcare environment,” Ryan said. “I aim to make research-based design decisions with the intent of adding to the evidence-based design knowledge base. It’s exciting to be a part of KSU’s programs that will surely inspire students to think about human-centered design approaches.”