Member Spotlight: Mina Kim, IDSA receives global patents for novel light guide plate desk lamp | Link

Mina Kim, IDSA, a graduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), has recently been granted global patents for her groundbreaking invention—the light guide plate desk lamp. Her innovative creation not only demonstrates remarkable uniqueness and ingenuity but also addresses long-standing challenges in lighting design.

The light guide plate desk lamp represents a significant improvement over conventional desk lamps that emit light solely on the desk surface, often causing glare, shading, and discomfort for users. Mina’s invention employs a thin sheet of transparent material called a light guide plate, which reflects and diffuses light uniformly. This material enables the creation of a lighting system that eliminates shadows, providing an unparalleled level of visual clarity and comfort.

Meet Mina Kim Link

This innovation was born out of observing everyday frustrations with conventional LED lighting, which, although efficient, frequently produces uncomfortable glare and inadequate diffusion. I realized that existing LED covers were either ineffective or aesthetically disappointing, prompting me to explore better ways to harness and distribute light.

Light and shadow have always been inseparable. A shadow is the dark area where light cannot pass through. Without shadows, some say that an object has no form. There is even a saying that if a person’s figure casts no shadow, they might be a ghost. Shadows are such an inherent part of our perception of reality. Yet, there is someone who has made shadows disappear as if erased by an invisible eraser. That person is Professor Minji Kim (26) of Parsons School of Design in New York. Majoring in Industrial Design, Professor Kim engraved a special pattern on the cover of an LED lamp to eliminate shadows. Currently, students at Jinsun Girls’ Middle and High Schools in Gangnam, Seoul, are studying under the shadowless lamps developed by Professor Kim. We met with her to learn how she defied the laws of physics to erase shadows.

Since her college days, Professor Minji Kim has dedicated herself to developing the so-called “shadowless lamp” that eliminates shadows entirely. After numerous trials and errors, she succeeded in creating a technology that engraves a special pattern on the lamp cover to erase shadows, and she holds patents for this innovation in South Korea, the United States, and China.

“The starting point was simple. I suddenly felt that the covers on LED lamps were rather useless. They seemed intended to reduce glare, but they actually lowered light efficiency and weren’t aesthetically pleasing. When I repositioned the light source to the side to solve the glare issue, I noticed fewer shadows were created. That’s when the development process really took off.”

She developed light paths—called “light roads”—on the lamp cover to guide the light. “The LED chips are arranged around the edges, and high-resolution laser lenticular lenses—3D conversion lenses—are engraved on the acrylic cover to form these light roads. It might sound like something quickly put together, but it was far from easy. We repeatedly fine-tuned factors like the spacing, depth, thickness, and angles of the scratch-like patterns, as well as the transparency and thickness of the acrylic sheet. For example, a 3.5mm thick acrylic sheet bent too easily, while a 4.5mm sheet didn’t provide enough brightness, so we finally settled on the optimal thickness of 4mm.”

Mina Kim

Email minnkime@gmail.com

Tel +1 401-259-4557