The 2021 QEPrize is awarded to the creation and development of LED lighting, which forms the basis of all solid-state lighting technology.
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering organization awarded its 2021 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) this week to “the creation and development of LED lighting.” Professor Isamu Akasaki, professor Shuji Nakamura, professor Nick Holonyak Jr, M George Craford, and professor Russell Dupuis share the honor as the developers of LED technology. The QEPrize is awarded biennially as a £1,000,000 prize to promote excellence in engineering.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are recognized for more efficiently producing light, reducing emissions, and lasting longer than traditional bulbs or lighting sources. The QEPrize also recognizes LED bulbs as the “green revolution” in lighting. The U.S. Department of Energy and the Government of Canada each have pages devoted to LED lighting and its use in residential and commercial applications. The Department of Energy’s Energy Saver page estimates that replacing the five most used light bulbs in a home can save $75 per year. Compounding this idea is the estimate that LED bulbs will last between 3 and 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Canada also notes that decorative light strings, light bulbs, fixtures, and lights integrated into ceiling fans are all now available to purchase as ENERGY STAR certified lighting sources, following Canada’s Energy Efficiency Act and Regulations. ENERGY STAR itself touts the benefits of LED lights on its page, noting that while incandescent bulbs heat a filament and release 90 percent of their energy as heat, LEDs more efficiently convert energy into light and use heat sinks to spread their thermal energy across a larger area. The ENERGY STAR system also qualifies LED bulbs based on color quality, light output, warranty requirements and life testing through its Light Bulb Purchasing Guide.
Beyond their use in residential applications, LED bulbs are used in many commercial applications. QEP recognizes their benefits in the fashion, maritime, automotive and medical industries while giving special accolades for their use in helping to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. LED bulbs have their own professional associations, conferences, and many publications. While it’s easy to assume that by now every house, corporation or public space is using LEDs, a 2015 study from the Energy Information Administration estimated that only 29 percent of U.S. homes had installed one or more LED bulbs. A similar 2017 study from Statistics Canada showed that 50 percent of Canadian households had at least one LED bulb installed. My guess would be that the number grows every year, with the main barrier to adoption being cost, and many energy experts argue that while LED bulbs are a more expensive up-front investment, they save money in the not-so-long run.
The concept of LEDs is hard to pin down as one specific invention between the discovery of electroluminescence in 1907 by Henry Joseph Round, Oleg Losev’s 1927 paper titled “Luminous Carborundum Detector and Detection Effect and Oscillations with Crystals,” or Georges Destriau’s application of an electrical field to zinc sulfide powder doped with copper in 1936. Stouch Lighting makes the distinction that Nick Holonyak developed the “viable working version of LED technology” in 1962. Holonyak was working at General Electric at the time, and this feels like the largest technology growth period, rolling toward the modern day. The QEPrize history page echoes the idea that Holonyak first created the visible-light LED, with Craford responsible for the yellow LED and an easier path to commercialization. Dupuis is credited with manufacturing scalability, Akasaki was responsible for blue lights, and Nakamura’s contributions were the commercialization of bright white LEDs. When the Nobel Prize Committee gave its 2014 award for Physics to “the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources,”, it was Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura who were recipients of the honor.
The QEPrize “champions bold, groundbreaking engineering innovation which is of global benefit to humanity” and is awarded by the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation. The first prize was awarded in 2013, and previous winners include the Internet and the World Wide Web, Controlled Drug Delivery, Digital Imaging Sensors, and the Global Positioning System. Anyone can nominate any advancements for the award, although posthumous and self-nominations are prohibited. One of my favorite parts of this organization is its celebration of the awardees with a grand trophy, designed through a competition by young creators aged 14-24 each time the award is presented.
