Associate Professor Gurley Building 4th floor besenu2@rpi.edu 518-276-7118 Doctor of Philosophy in Architectural Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Master of Science in Lighting, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design, Columbia University; Dipl.-Eng. in Architecture (M.Arch. equivalent), Leibniz University Hannover, Germany; Certificate Master in Design and Management, Politechnico di Milano, Italy Ute Besenecker is an Associate Professor at the School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is a design researcher and educator focusing on the impact of lighting on human perception, behavior and wellbeing in spatial environments. Her special interest is facilitating interdisciplinary research collaborations across architecture, lighting design, art, engineering, and the sciences to connect research, education, and practice in support of building sustainable environments that inspire and support the perception and wellbeing of their occupants. Ute’s background spans academic research and education as well as professional practice in lighting design, policy development, product management, and architecture in the US and Europe. Prior to joining RPI in 2025, she served as Head of the Architectural Lighting Design Division at KTH (Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden) overseeing and developing its educational and research activities. Currently, her academic activities include teaching and advising in undergraduate and graduate programs, and grant-funded lighting research projects related to perceived qualities of interior, exterior, and virtual spatial environments. As PI, Ute has lead several research projects, including: “NorDark: Mediating the needs of people and nature in Nordic after-dark environments”, a 5-year collaboration of six academic partners, working with industry and municipalities, to evaluate and inform lighting for urban forests using real-world test sites and their digital representations, supported by the Research Council of the Nordic Countries (NordForsk), and the Swedish Energy Agency; and “LiSE: A learning-environment testbed to evaluate benefits for lighting beyond retrofits”, a 5-year collaboration of municipal, industrial, and academic partners to test the opportunities of adjustable light distributions in classrooms to support teaching and learning, funded by the Swedish Energy Agency and the Bertil and Britt Svenssons Foundation for Illumination. Ute is a part of the editorial team for LEUKOS, the journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), and member of the IES, the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), and founding member of the Light Collaboration Network for Research and Education (LCN). /*