By Deb Lovig

As the LED industry grows by leaps and bounds, it’s kinda hard to remember back to the good old days when there were a few really smart guys who were mostly just trying to outgun each other on brightness and efficiency. Back when LEDs were indicator and dashboard lights, and mostly red or yellow, a not-so-mad scientist came along who would make a blue LED bright enough to be useful. Bright enough that others would buy these LEDs in large quantities and start to make blue indicators and dashboards.

 John Edmond is quick to point out that he didn’t know what an LED was when he was hired as the third Cree employee and assigned to make LEDs. That was back in 1987 and a lot has changed since Cree’s performance breakthrough in 1989 that enabled the commercialization of the blue LED. One of Cree’s first big customers for blue LEDs was Volkswagon. They began buying blue LEDs in 1995 for what is now Volkswagon’s signature blue dashboard.

 Today, the blue LED is the foundation for super bright white LED light, which is revolutionizing the way the world thinks about lighting.

 Amazingly enough, Dr. Edmond is still at Cree, still busting through performance hurdles and still loving his work. When they meet John, most people ask him why he still does what he does. He’s got more than 20 years of major accomplishments attached to his name. His kids are off doing their own things. He prefers to spend summers in upstate New York. So, why not cut loose and leave the labs behind?

 “I’m as excited about the state of LEDs as I’ve ever been. We are at the point that we are starting to see LEDs in our offices, on our streets and in our homes. This is what I’ve been working toward for the past 20 some years. It’s just getting more exciting,” says John. “I can now say that I believe we will see 200 lumens per watt from LEDs and I would never have believed that when we first started. It’s just crazy fun no matter where you are in the LED industry.”

Here’s a recent interview with John during which he talks about the early days of Cree and the commercialization of the blue LED: