Eric Johannessen doesn't just work with lights—he reimagines how they shape travel at 35,000 feet.

As a Senior Technical Fellow in Lighting Electronics at Collins Aerospace, Johannessen bridges the gap between technical innovation and passenger experiences.

"The impact of lighting is a lot more than people think," Johannessen explains. "Generally, people downplay lights, and they say, 'Oh, it's just a light, you put it up, and it illuminates.' And that's kind of what it was in the past."

But the modern reality is far more complex and fascinating.

Educating customers on the possibilities

The slow-moving nature of aviation makes customer education particularly important. Johannessen draws a comparison to smartphones: "If you asked us, 15 years ago, 'Do you need an iPhone?', we would say: 'No, it's silly.' And now I can't live without it."

Similarly, showing airlines and OEMs what's possible with modern lighting technology often sparks creativity they hadn't considered.

Customer sophistication varies widely. "Some customers are super advanced, and they really want to push new technology. Other customers are more spec-focused."

The passion behind the science

What drives Johannessen's enthusiasm for lighting? The creative freedom and seemingly endless possibilities.

"I think it's the one product on the airplane that gives you the most degrees of freedom, the most areas and opportunities to innovate, the most locations throughout the cabin," he reflects.

This blend of technical expertise and artistic sensibility seems common within the lighting team. "What's interesting is a lot of people here can draw," Johannessen observes. "I think it's the kind of thing that attracts people that have kind of an artistic side to them...and that creativity drives innovation or creates opportunities for innovation where it's not always obvious."

Imagination in action

When asked about recent breakthroughs, Johannessen's enthusiasm is palpable as he describes the micro-LED reading light—a project that went from a white board sketch to award-winning concept in just eight months.

"It's a light where you can change the shape of that light and pattern. So, I call it a variable geometry light engine," he explains. Unlike conventional projectors that produce RGB light with poor color rendering, this system uses an array of white micro-LEDs with a specialized lens system.

The result is a single fixture that can replace three conventional lights by dynamically changing its beam pattern—from a focused reading spot to wider area illumination—all while maintaining the high-quality light essential for natural color rendering.

"The advantage of that is obviously you're replacing three parts with one part, so it's there’s cost and weight savings, and you're getting vastly superior performance," Johannessen notes. The innovation won a Crystal Cabin Award, one of the industry's highest honors.

Johannessen’s concept for the micro-LED light went from a sketch-out idea to full concept in the short span of eight months, winning a Crystal Cabin Award in 2018.

Illuminating the future

As aircraft cabin designs evolve toward increasingly integrated lighting solutions, Johannessen and his colleagues continue pushing the boundaries of what's possible. From enhancing passenger wellbeing through chronobiological lighting to creating dramatic visual experiences that reinforce airline branding, cabin lighting has emerged from its utilitarian past to become a critical element of the passenger experience.