Pratt Institute industrial design students Sejung Oh and Sang Yoon-Lee were awarded the top two prizes from the Illuminating Engineering Society of New York City (IESNYC) as part of the IESNYC's annual lighting design competition which was held in February.

The winning designs, which interpreted the theme of "Fraction/Refraction," were selected from more than 100 designs by students from six New York colleges and universities including Fashion Institute of Technology, Fordham University, New York School of Interior Design, Parsons the New School for Design, and School of Visual Arts. 

Clockwise from left: Sejung Oh's winning Dal Beat design; Sang Yoon-Lee's second-place winning Ivre design; and honorable mention designs Quasar, Nova, and Obscura by Andrew An, Caleb Ferris, and David Krawczyk, respectively. Photos: Naomi Castillo Photography.

Honorable mentions went to Pratt undergraduates: Andrew An, a sophomore from Irvine, California, recognized for his design titled Quasar; David Krawczyk, a junior from Roanoke, Virginia, recognized for his design titled Obscura; and Caleb Ferris, a sophomore from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, recognized for his design titled Nova.   

The theme of this year's IESNYC competition challenged design, architecture, interior design, industrial design, and art students to consider direction, distribution, and the divergence of light and submit a three-dimensional study on how light plays with textures and flows through materials to create layers of contrast.   

Sejung Oh's grand prize-winning design, Dal Beat, is a drum filled with water and light that when trapped, creates a refraction of light and evokes the way that moonlight reflects on water. It was constructed of acrylic, and LED strip, and MDF. "The name Dal Beat is derived from dal bit, which is Korean for 'moonlight,'" explained Oh. "I changed the name of my project as an invitation to viewers to tap or beat the drum to see the movement of the light," he added. 

Oh is a sophomore from Seoul, Korea. As first place winner, he will receive a three-day, all expenses paid trip to Paris and $2,000 from Debbas International. He will have the opportunity to interface with lighting engineers and designers at the firm's new Paris showroom and exhibit space, L'Atelier, and at La Machine, Debbas International's factory outside the city.   

Sang Yoon-Lee, a sophomore from Gyunggi Ilsan, Korea, was recognized with second place for his Ivre lighting design. IESNYC awarded Yoon-Lee a cash prize of $1,000 for his winning entry.  

Pratt students participated in the competition as part of their Industrial Design II studio course. The faculty members who teach this course and whose students submitted work are the following: Patrick Fenton, Scott Lundberg, Jeanne Pfordresher, Willy Schwenzfeier, and Jonathan Thayer.  The Industrial Design department is chaired by Steve Diskin and is part of the Pratt Institute School of Art and Design, which is led by Dean Concetta M. Stewart.