Turquoise Shaw Memorial Scholarship

 The Turquoise Shaw Memorial Scholarship is proudly sponsored by the IES Raleigh Section. Turquoise was a member of the IES Raleigh Section since 2001 and proudly served on the board for many years. We are honored to have known her and serve beside her on the IES Raleigh Section and we are elated to carry on Turquoise's love of lighting through an educational scholarship for lighting. 

We are rewarding two students with an essay prompted with three questions:

 Please email your essay to [email protected] by December 31st 2026. The board will vote and announce the winner at our Member Award Recognition Luncheon: 

First Place $1000

Second Place $500 

The late Turquoise L. Shaw (née Banks) was a force with a smile brighter than any lamp she 
surveyed. She was a daughter, sister, cousin, friend, godmother, cat mom, and mentor, also an 
engineer, artist, an outdoor enthusiast, and most important, a child of God.  
Born in Laurinburg, North Carolina, Shaw embraced all of life’s triumphs and challenges with a 
fierce determination. A 1999 graduate of Scotland County High School, she made the decision 
to further her education at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. There she 
earned her bachelor’s in architectural engineering and made friends who became roommates 
and later turned into family. 
Professionally, Shaw always carried a passion for lighting. She began her career as an electrical 
designer with Odell Associates Inc., in Charlotte, North Carolina. She then moved to AME, PC, 
on to United Engineering Group, Inc., Ameresco, and Noresco with increasing responsibilities at 
each post.  
When faced with a layoff during the Covid 19 pandemic, she did not simply retreat to her home 
to ride out the quarantine. She put her nearly two decades of experience to work and created 
her own startup electrical design and audit firm, Blue Lighting Consultants LLC. 
As the owner and the company’s sole employee, Shaw utilized her pleasant and positive 
attitude as she performed comprehensive interior and exterior lighting audits and designs 
energy and cost-saving lighting systems for private and commercial clients across various 
industries, allow her to set the tone and energy she wishes to receive. 
She maintained certifications in lighting management consultancy from interNational 
Association of Lighting Management Companies (NALMCO) and lighting efficiency from the 
Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). She has also received professional training from RAB 
Lighting, the US Green Building Council, and Green Continuing Education (GreenCE). 
A proponent of playing as hard as she worked, Shaw spent a great deal of time on adventures 
that led her to working out, hiking, biking, swimming, spa days, vacations where there was no 
cellular service. She also made time to participate in various races from 5Ks to half-marathons. 
She also enjoyed volunteering for local festivals and Habitat for Humanity, as well as tutoring 
students in college algebra and trigonometry, and mentoring young professionals. 
Shaw maintained membership in Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) where she served in 
various leadership positions in the Charlotte, Atlanta and Raleigh chapters, as well as on the 
national board; served as chairwoman of the Raleigh chapter’s Illumination Awards, where local 
companies are encouraged to submit their lighting projects for local awards, have those 
projects revised and submitted for national entry; served on the Healthcare Facilities 
Committee and the Educational Facilities Committee, both for IES’s national board.  

Thanks To Our Gold Sponsors