When he isn’t researching and leading the development of new policies for the DLC’s Networked Lighting Controls (NLC) and LUNA programs, Senior Technical Manager Levin Nock says he likes riding a bike that he “electrified, along with some other modifications.”

Suffice it to say, this is an understatement.

After purchasing his Giant Revive DX bike several years ago, Levin started tinkering, eventually converting it into a comfortable, versatile, E-motorized vehicle capable of taking him wherever he needs to go with ease -including return trips from the supermarket hauling three large grocery bags.

“My e-bike is an Irish blessing: the wind is always at my back and the road rises up to meet me,” Levin wrote in a blog post about his bicycle. “Even with a 20-mph headwind on an uphill climb, the motor makes it seem like the wind is at my back and I’m pedaling downhill.”

Besides adding two-foot long cargo racks (for the groceries), Levin souped up the original pedal-forward bike with a motor, an electric battery (with waterproof case), a speedometer display panel, LED headlights (with hoods to limit uplight), a heavy-duty kickstand, new handlebar grips, new tires and fenders, toe clips, and glowing rims for nighttime visibility. The bike doesn’t fold…but he has ideas about how to make a folding version.

Also suffice it to say that Levin is an engineer. He holds a biomedical engineering PhD in adaptive imaging from Duke University and earned a BA in physics at Cornell.

Before joining the DLC in 2016, Levin managed research on energy efficient LED lighting and lighting controls at Bonneville Power Administration and worked in research and development and commercial building energy efficiency analysis with various firms. He was attracted to the DLC by the opportunity to help develop and launch the NLC program as a new way to support energy savings across the US and Canada.

Levin says the most rewarding aspect of his job is knowing that his work contributes to mitigating the impacts of “climate chaos and diminishing dark skies” and his colleagues can attest how seriously he takes these challenges. He finds a bit of levity can help move the needle, however, and is among the DLC’s most creative and entertaining speakers– as his opening for a 2021 dark sky presentation illustrates: https://designlights.org/news-events/events/smart-city-lighting-summit-the-dark-night-returns/

Captivated by the outdoors, Levin is a rock climber who previously tackled the Shawangunk Ridge in New York, Wyoming’s Wind River mountains and the Calanques in southern France. These days, he tends toward more horizontal recreation – swimming or hiking with his wife and their two dogs.