Vic Zaderej was the last guest of this spring’s DPELC-MSL Speaker Series and he proved to be a fantastic closing act by giving a talk on innovation, entrepreneurship, and intrapreneurship. Vic is an excellent person to speak on the subject since he’s been able to do it all throughout his career. Currently, he is the Lead Technologist of Solid State Lighting at Molex, but he’s also mentored the lead architect for the University of Illinois Solar Decathlon project in Peking, China and has designed several green building projects, including his own home, Pura Vida, in Oregon, Illinois. In 2015, Vic and his wife, Polly McGann, started Happy Leaf because they saw a strong opportunity for a business to develop state-of-the- art horticultural lighting for consumers and businesses.

Vic gave an overview of his unorthodox career path and also discussed how LED lighting is changing the world. The advanced LED lights he produces for vegetative growth, for example, use less energy, less water, and make it easy for people to grow food at home. Vic, however, also offered a few of the lessons he learned along the way that can help others who want a fulfilling professional life. Here are a few suggestions you can apply to help make your work environment a place where your own unique skills can thrive:

• Determine what you really enjoy doing.
• Become an indispensable expert.
• Don’t wait to be told what to do, take initiative.
• Create your own job, if your current one feels stifling.
• File for IP protection when you have ideas worth protecting.