Hey Everyone, I'm David Scheffer.
I was born in Schenectady, NY on September 7th, 1986. I grew up in Rotterdam, NY. I have two sisters who are 2 and 5 years younger than me. After attending Schalmont High School graduating in 2004, I went on to study chemical engineering at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY graduating with a B.S. in 2008. In 2007, I developed an autoimmune disease: Wegener's Granulomatosis. Remission was achieved in September of that year however complications from steroid use led to avascular necrosis of both hips. I underwent total hip replacements in June, 2008 at 21 years of age.
In January 2009, I entered the energy service industry working for an ESCO: American Energy Care Inc. in Colonie, NY (a suburb of Albany, NY) where I worked on lighting upgrade projects. In October of that year, I began working for an Engineering Design firm: Novus Engineering in Delmar, NY. There, I worked on lighting upgrade projects as well as electrical design projects. During my time in Albany, I lived in the Park South neighborhood (New Scotland Ave. / Albany Medical Center area) of downtown Albany. The building I lived on New Scotland Ave. has since been demolished and replaced with Albany Medical Center buildings.
In April, 2012, I moved to the NYC area and began working for Encelium Technologies, located in Teaneck, NJ. Encelium is a subsidiary of Osram Sylvania. I moved to the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan for this position. At Encelium, I played various roles, all related to the design and layout of Encelium's lighting control system. I enjoyed becoming involved in the vast lighting community of the NYC area, especially the Illuminating Engineering Society. In 2013, I switched to a technical solutions role at Traxon, a fellow Sylvania subsidiary in a merged-relocated office, in East Rutherford, NJ. In this role, I played with color-changing, DMX controlled lights. I had also moved to the Hells Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan. The following year (2014), I moved out to East Rutherford, NJ to be near the office.
In January, 2016, I moved to New Orleans, LA, to return to engineering design as an Electrical Engineer at an Architecture firm, WDG Architects Engineers. I moved to the Bywater neighborhood, then shortly after to the Marigny neighborhood after meeting my partner (now ex-partner) Brandon.
In May, 2019, I returned to the capital region and entertained the idea of running my own business Scheffer Lighting. I did AutoCAD work in partnership with an NYC lighting design firm and a few other companies, however this was not sustainable. I then held a part-time position at Nolan Engineering doing AutoCAD work, then at Guth DeConzo Engineers as an Electrical Engineer. During this summer I met my boyfriend Alex.
In January, 2020, I moved to Spartanburg, SC for a new position at a lighting manufacturer: Griven / Hess / Nordeon Group, to once again play with color-changing lights and help support the growing Griven brand in the US market.
In my spare time, I like to hang with Alex, bike ride, play piano, listen to music, dance, play with lights & electricity, and improve the energy efficiency of the world around me!
:-Dave