A seminar for entrepreneurs in Ancona, Italy, featured the story behind Light Emitting Plasma technology.

Randy Reid, representing LUXIM, Inc., described how the groundbreaking development behind LEP technology was successfully incubated in their Silicon Valley-based research center.

While Italy has been heavily affected by the economic struggles presently facing many European countries, Reid encouraged entrepreneurs to create an environment where scientific experimentation and innovation can still thrive.

Throughout history, great scientific minds have overcome obstacles through creativity and focus, despite the distractions of their day. During the Renaissance period, Italians like Leonardo DaVinci emerged from humble backgrounds with an ingenuity and diversity of natural talent that resulted in breakthroughs in art, science, and many areas of study. In the modern day, it's easy to see how businesses like Apple have worked hard to remain flexible, capitalizing on the steady stream of ideas produced by an R&D department that enjoys the freedom to go beyond the bounds of established markets and products.

Although LUXIM was originally focused on the back-lit television market, by intentionally building a culture encouraging innovation and outside-the-box thinking, they have developed an award-winning portfolio of products that include instrumentation lighting, entertainment lighting, and now general lighting.

Even during hard economic times, it's crucial that governments and businesses create ways for technologists to pursue new ideas and inventions. This kind of investment in R&D may be hard to swallow at first, but it will be rewarded by unparalleled innovation, as we have seen over and over.

And, what's next for LUXIM? Well, we've got a few more ideas coming down the pipe... stay tuned!