Bio


I completed my PhD degree at EPFL, Switzerland focused on the influence of eye physiology and color of daylight on human visual comfort under daylight office spaces. I have a background in Architecture and a Master's in Building Science and Information Technology from India, complemented by a research fellowship at the Lawerence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL). I am currently pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at Building for Well-being lab in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at the Stanford University. Here, I am working on broader aspects of occupant well being in indoor spaces brought by the natural materials and natural lighting.

Honors & Awards


  • Building Energy Efficiency Higher & Advanced Network (BHAVAN) Fellowships, Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) (2018)
  • Best paper Award, Asia's Building Performance Simulation Association (2018)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Technical Committee member, International Commission on Illumination (CIE) (2020 - Present)
  • Technical Committee member, International Energy Agency (2022 - Present)

Professional Education


  • Doctor of Philosophy, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (2023)
  • Bachelor of Architecture, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (2015)
  • Master of Science, International Institute of Info Tech Hyderabad (2019)
  • Ph.D., EPFL, Switzerland, Civil & Environmental Engineering (2023)
  • M.S., IIIT-Hyderabad, India, Building Science (2018)
  • B.Arch., NIT-Bhopal, India, Architecture (2015)

Stanford Advisors


Research Interests


  • Research Methods
  • Technology and Education

Current Research and Scholarly Interests


Human-centric built environment, Daylighting, Visual comfort

All Publications


  • Perceived glare from the sun behind tinted glazing: Comparing blue vs. color-neutral tints BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT Jain, S., Wienold, J., Lagier, M., Schueler, A., Andersen, M. 2023; 234
  • Influence of macular pigment on the sensitivity to discomfort glare from daylight. Scientific reports Jain, S., Wienold, J., Eandi, C., Gisselbaek, S., Kawasaki, A., Andersen, M. 2023; 13 (1): 18551

    Abstract

    Understanding the factors that influence the human perception of glare is necessary to properly address glare risks in buildings and achieve comfortable visual environments, especially in the workplace. Yet large inter-individual variabilities in glare perception remain unexplained and thus uncovered by the current empirical glare models. We hypothesize that this variability has an origin in the human retina, in particular in the density of macular pigments present in its central area, which varies between individuals. Macular pigments are known to absorb blue light and attenuate chromatic aberration, thus reducing light scatter. This study presents the outcomes of the first experiment ever conducted in a daylit office environment, in which glare sensitivity and macular pigment density were measured and compared for 110 young healthy individuals, along with other ocular parameters. The participants were exposed to different glare conditions induced by the sun filtered through either color-neutral or blue-colored glazing. In neutral daylight conditions with sun disc in the near periphery, neither macular pigment nor any other investigated ocular factors have an impact on discomfort glare perception whereas glare perception in conditions with the blue-colored sun disc in the near periphery was found to be correlated with macular pigment optical density.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41598-023-45785-x

    View details for PubMedID 37899478

  • Behind electrochromic glazing: Assessing user's perception of glare from the sun in a controlled environment ENERGY AND BUILDINGS Jain, S., Karmann, C., Wienold, J. 2022; 256
  • A review of open loop control strategies for shades, blinds and integrated lighting by use of real-time daylight prediction methods BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT Jain, S., Garg, V. 2018; 135: 352-364
  • Comparison of questionnaire items for discomfort glare studies in daylit spaces LIGHTING RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY Quek, G., Jain, S., Karmann, C., Pierson, C., Wienold, J., Andersen, M. 2023
  • Transmittance thresholds of electrochromic glazing to achieve annual low-glare work environments Nordic Building Simulation 2022 Wienold, J., Jain, S., Andersen, M. 2022: 8
  • Subjective assessment of visual comfort in a daylit workplace with an electrochromic glazed facade Jain, S., Karmann, C., Wienold, J., Scartezzini, J. L., Smith, B. IOP PUBLISHING LTD. 2021
  • Circadian lighting in a space daylit by a tubular daylight device Jain, S., Fernandes, L., Regnier, C., Garg, V., IOP IOP PUBLISHING LTD. 2019