“Lighting design is a very niche field; it requires an amalgam of science, creativity, and technical knowledge.”, says Surbhi Jindal, Founder & CEO of DaLightHub, a company that focuses on lighting design and education. Having a presence in three continents and assignments all over the world, she’s built a diverse portfolio of projects ranging from restaurants and corporate offices to celebrity homes and luxury hotels.
In the last 15 years, she’s proved her excellence in various sectors of the lighting industry including manufacturing, application, designing, project management, and teaching. She is the writer of the chapters on Retail Lighting in the Revised National Lighting Code by BIS India and has co-authored the international bestseller, The Growth Hacking Book 2.
Hailing from the small town of Roorkee in UP, Jindal always showed a great interest in art and architecture. At 12 years old, she won a national-level art competition which made her choose the field of design for life. An all-India rank of 149 in the college entrance exam got her into the reputed Apeejay Institute of Technology – School of Architecture & Planning (AIT-SAP), where she was deeply inspired by the works of the glass artist Dale Chihuly & the world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid.
She started her career as a Lighting Design Specialist at Martini Lighting Systems, Delhi, soon after her B.Arch. She then went on to join some of the biggest names in the industry, such as Future Group, Philips Lighting, and John Cullen.
It was in 2017 that the designer turned into an entrepreneur, setting up ‘DaLightHub’ in Mumbai, with a vision to put India on the international map of lighting design and create more job opportunities in the field through skill-sharing & education. Focussed on her plan, she’s built a name for herself in the industry and inspires a lot more women and aspiring designers through her courses, workshops, and discussions on various platforms.
While the Covid-19 pandemic put the world on pause, Jindal made the best out of the situation and launched ‘The Lockdown Series’ – webinars and podcasts focussed on interviewing designers, influencers, and other eminent personalities, and also developed VR & AR-based lighting design experiences.
In 2020, Jindal was named a Rising Star by the Times of India, and she also made it to the Lighting Magazine’s 40-Under-40 list of lighting designers in the world. Last year, she was called ‘The LightMaker’ by Entrepreneur Magazine, India, recognizing her as one of the 24 Shepreneurs of 2021, after which, she was appointed the Ambassador of Women in Lighting in India. Currently, she’s also a member of the Virtual Lighting Design Community, the International Association of Lighting Designers, and the board of trustees of India’s Forum for Commerce & Industry.
The next step in Jindal’s journey of lighting design is ‘Lighting Design As a Service’ (LDAS), an e-commerce platform that brings together designers, consultants, suppliers, and clients. The first part of it, DaLightHub 360Deg XP, is to be launched soon. Through this new venture, she hopes to light up all corners of our country by making lighting design more accessible remotely.
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