Thursday 15 December 2022

Summing Up Acoustics 2022- Back to Normal

 

We thank you all for your support over a year of what can only be described as back to normal. We started the year with the graduation of two years of students at the Royal Festival Hall. The REF21 results came in and our acoustics research was determined to be World Leading in terms of real-world impact. Fifteen papers were given by staff and students at various in-person conferences including: Inter-Noise in Glasgow, CIBSE in London, and the ASA in Denver. Eleven of Dr Haydar Aygun’s Masters’ students enjoyed a few days in a sunny Glasgow- the Lockdown students as we call them. Emeritus Professor Bridget Shield gave the plenary lecture. A 3-year InnovateUK project was won with Audio3 and St Thomas’s Hospital for the development of a music-based audiometer. Four journal papers were published on Hybrid teaching, Classroom Acoustics, the Lab in a Box, and Hyflex technology. Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina won LSBU Postgraduate Research Supervisor of the Year. Closer ties were formed with the Institute of Acoustics with our successful course re-accreditation, jointly organised events at the Royal Academy of Engineering, University of Birmingham City, and at London and Eastern Branches.  Another Youtube video was created with Callux – this time resulting in 1.4m views.  New equipment was purchased: a Kudawave portable audiometer, NTi vibration kits, and a Svantek 958A noise and vibration meter. The later for our new PhD student Alec Korchev. Enterprise activities grew with the IOA Short course run, Royal Academy of Music collaboration continuing, the Royal Opera House Sitzprobe project and St Paul’s Cathedral choristers’ work. Finally, the Apprenticeship in Acoustics is up and running with Dr Hyun Lim leading our first cohort of students!  In 2023 we look forward to welcoming new PhD students and the expansion of our Acoustic Laboratory. Have a great Christmas.  

LSBU 2021-22 Diploma student projects to present at IOA London Branch

 

Three of the best IOA Diploma final student projects undertaken at LSBU during 2021-22, will be presented to the Institute of Acoustics on the 10 January 2023 at the London Branch. The in person and streamed online meeting  will take place from 18:00h at LSBU Hub Building, 116 London Road, London  SE1 6NJ.  For security reasons to attend in-person it is necessary to register via this Eventbrite

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/agm-followed-by-lsbu-ioa-diploma-student-projects-tickets-488596895467

The event will include the annual NTI-Audio sponsored “best LSBU Diploma final project award competition” where NTI-Audio UK managing director will present a prize to the winner. For those unable to attend in person please join via zoom (no need to register on Eventbrite).

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83546350951?pwd=b04rKy9HQVQyenNCa2w3b1Fqcm1iZz09


Friday 9 December 2022

Christmas Party 2022

 

We have made it to the end of the year! To celebrate the Masters and IOA Diploma students stayed in the Student Bar, just to keep warm. We hope they have a fabulous Christmas and see you all in the New Year! 

Monday 5 December 2022

Abstract on Orchestra Pits submitted to InterNoise 23

 

On the 5th December 2022 Professor Stephen Dance submitted an abstract to Inter-Noise 23 to be hosted by the Japanese Acoustical Society in Tokyo. The paper is on the acoustics of a Sitzprobe rehearsal, which we think has never been measured. The musicians were not happy with the sound levels in the orchestra pit. See you in Chiba, Japan come August 2023 !

Thursday 1 December 2022

Measurements at St Paul's Cathedral

 

On the 30th November 2022 St Paul's Cathedral held a performanc of Handel's Messiah. Once again Prof Stephen Dance was requested to measure the music dose of the choristers to understand the boy's sound exposure.  It was a most fantastic evening and a great experience. 

Monday 28 November 2022

IOA Courses at LSBU re-accredited

 

On 23rd September 2022 a panel of representatives of the Institute of Acoustics (IOA), visited LSBU as part of process to obtain re-accreditation on the IOA Diploma of Acoustics and Noise Control and Certificate of Competence of Environmental Noise measurements  (CCENM) courses. The director for those courses at LSBU, Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina, organised and led the visit with the assistance of the teaching and the senior management team.  The panel were highly satisfied with the overall running of the courses. We have recently received confirmation that LSBU has gained re-accreditation to run these two prestigious courses for another 5 years. This is the third time that LSBU has been accredited. Well done Luis and the teaching team on a job well done!


Monday 21 November 2022

Inaugural Lecture Invitation: Acoustics for the Benefit of Musicians

 

On Wednesday 25th January 2023 Professor Stephen Dance will give his second inaugural lecture, blame COVID. He will present his 30+ years of research in acoustics. All are welcome to the London Road Hub 6pm with drinks and nibbles afterwards.

Tuesday 15 November 2022

Webinar for the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

 

On the 15th November 2022 Dr Franscesco Aletta invited Professor Stephen Dance to talk at a MDPI webinar on Environmental Noise and Soundscape on the results from the Quiet Project. He was joined by three other speakers, 2 for Spain and another from Birmingham City University to discuss the topic and the future of soundscape research. The 29 attendees enjoyed the lucntime session with a Q&A panel to close the event.

Thursday 3 November 2022

Abstract submitted to ICBEN 2023 on Hearing Assessment

 

The 14th International Conference on the Biological Effects of Noise will be hosted by Serbia, 18-23 June 2023. Professor Stephen Dance has submitted an abstract on the hearing assessment of classical musicians. He will present on Otoacoustic Emissions and their ability to identify at the earliest stage hearing damage in musicians. See you in Belgrade!

Friday 28 October 2022

Graduation at the Royal Festival Hall 2022

 
On the 28th October 2022 London South Bank University School of the Built Environment and Architecture held their graduation ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall. Sam, Karina and Jake graduated from the Masters course in Environmental and Architectural Acoustics. Great to see you guys!

Thursday 27 October 2022

Chairing the Musical Acoustics Group Annual Meeting

 

On the 19th October 2022 Professor Stephen Dance chaired the Institute of Acoustics Musical Acoustics Group meeting hosted at Birmingham City University. The meeting consisted of seven presentations enjoyed by 26 attendees. Professor Dance presented two on his latest research:  Acoustics of Sitzprobe Rehearsals and a Novel Hearing Asessment Method for Musicians. Manchester University presented four topics and Edinburgh provided the finale. The meeting eas kindly supported by UKAN with 40% of attendees Early Career and 40% of presentation given by ECRs. 

Tuesday 18 October 2022

Quiet Project Presentation at IOA Eastern Branch

 

Professor Stephen Dance was invited to the Institute of Acoustics Eastern Branch to present the latest research results from the Quiet Project. Colchester United football club were the hosts of the event held on the 12th October 2022. The Quiet Project Lockdown 1 results showed how roads became point sources with the massive reduction in traffic flow and how Case 1 instrumentation was necessary to measure the noise levels in Rural and Suburban locations. Discussions continued in the local Tandori restuarant. 

Monday 17 October 2022

Welcome to the New MSc Students

 

We welcome the six new part-time Masters students on the MSc in Environmental and Architectural Acoustics. We hope you enjoy your time at London South Bank University and it was great to see some old timers from the IOA Diploma course are back!

Welcome to the 2022-23 IOA Diploma Students

 

The 2022-2023 course of Institute of Acoustics (IOA) Diploma in Acoustics and Noise Control at LSBU commenced on 29 September 2022. Course director Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina welcomed the students and introduced the course. This is nineth time that LSBU runs the IOA Diploma course since it was reinstated in September 2013. Fourteen students have joined this academic year intake.  This cohort has a varied composition comprising of Music Technology, Audio Engineering, Geography, Sport Science, Environmental Health and Mathematics students.  Two weeks into the course the students are settling in well and enjoying the on-campus lab experiments , lectures and lab facilities.

We wish you a great learning experience and enjoyable time at LSBU

Friday 14 October 2022

Judging the ANC Awards 2022

 

On the 13th October 2022 Professor Stephen Dance attended the ANC Annual conference held in Birmingham. Professor Dance was invited as a judge for the annual awards evening event. A great time was had by all with Trevor Cox as guest speaker.

Tuesday 11 October 2022

Acoustics Open Day

 

On the 8th October 2022 the Acoustics Laboratory was opened to the public as part of a promotional campaign for our courses which now includes the Masters in Environmental and Architectural Acoustics, Institute of Acoustics Diploma in Noise Control and the new Apprenticehsip in Acoustivs. Dr Haydar Aygun gave a talk to prospective students which they greatly enjoyed. Look forward to seeing you all next year! 

Thursday 6 October 2022

Ecophon and Architects visit Acoustics Laboratory

 

On the 6th October 2022 Shane Cryer arranged for members of Ecophon and their MD and architects Paul Turpin Director of IBI Achitect who are part of the Department of Education Edu project, and Thomas Quinton of Architecture PLB to visit the London South Bank University Acoustics Laboratory. This was a followup from last years Ben Martson's visit of Jestico & Wiles visit. Professor Stephen Dance entertained and informed the engineers and architects as ot the value of acoustics. We think they all came away with new thoughts! 

Thursday 22 September 2022

Abstract submitted for Musical Acoustics Group Meeting

 

The Institute of Acoustics Musical Acoustics meeting is to be held on 19th October 2022 in Birmingham City University. An additional abstract has been submitted by Professor Stephen Dance on his recent work with the Royal Academy of Music on, "New methods for the hearing assessment of musicians". The work will show how otoacoustic emission can be used to assess the cochlear function to detect at the earliest stage possible hearing damage.  

Thursday 8 September 2022

Kudawave Portable Audiometer

On the 8th September 2022 the Acoustics Group received a portable based audiometer from Cluistrom called Kudawave. This will allow audiometry to be undertaken on-site demoncratising hearing assessment. First point of call arr students, who need to know the value of their own hearing!

InnovateUK Grant Success: Paediatric Music based Audiometry

 

On the 8th September 2022 InnovateUK awarded an industry led team £450,000. The Acoustics Group's Professor Stephen Dance is the academic lead. The 3 year programme,  under "Biomedical catalyst 22: Round 1" funded research to produce a Paediatric Music based Audiometer. The team lead by Dr Bradford Backus of Audio3 with support from St Thomas's Hospital audiology unit has to deliver on this great idea! 

16th Year of Royal Academy of Music Hearing Tests

 

On 8th September 2022 for the 16th year the hearing assessment of the Royal Academy of Music has been undertaken by Professor Stephen Dance of London South Bank University in a long term collaboration. In total 330 students will be tested in September 2022 using both audiometry and otoacoustic emissions to assess hearing acuity of classical musicians. All will be offered hearing protection.

Thursday 25 August 2022

New RMIOA Status for Research Students Agreed

 

On 23rd August 2022 at the Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Acoustics a proposal by Professor Stephen Dance was accepted by a vote of the corporate members. The vote was to introduce for the first tie at any professional body that research students by given a special status of Research Member of the Institute of Acoustics, with the post nominals of RMIOA. This will hopefully ensure the integration of research into the previously practitioner lead institute. Fingers Crossed with the UK Acoustic Network help it will work!

The Acoustic Students at Inter-Noise 2022

 
After 4 years of planning - Inter-Noise 2022 happened as an in-person hybrid event in Glasgow, UK. Over 5 days 11 students enjoyed various Early Career Events, with 1/3 of the 1274 delegates coming under this umbrella. Inter-Noise 2022 was pitched to the I-INCE panel by Professor Stephen Dance in Chicago and the decision for Glasgow to host the event was completed vindicated. We hope all the students enjoyed the event, made new contacts and learnt something new!

Presented at Inter-Noise 22: Plenary Address on Acoustic Design for School

 
On the 23rd August 2022 Emeritus Professor Bridget Shield gave the closing address at the Inter-Noise conference. Her selected subject was Acoustic Design of Schools. Bridget gave a history on architectural acoustics and specific acoustic design of school through the 20th Century. She finsihed by providing multiple examples of appropriate and inapproprite results for both primary and secondary school children as well as children with English as a second language and those with hearing impairment. Well done on a fantastically informative presentation!

Not Presented at Inter-Noise: Testing of Alternative Ventilation Ducts

 

On the 23rd August 2022 PhD candidate Suzana Zekic's slides were used by Jack Harvie-Jones to present her research work in a paper entitled, "Experiment acoustic testing of alternative ventilation ducts". Professor Stephen Dance assisted Jack as the slide were covered which focused on plastic ducts in a collaboration with a CIBSE working party of which Jack is a founding member.

Presented at Inter-Noise 22: An Audio-based Vehicle Classifer

 
On the 22nd August 2022 former MSc student Ekim Bakirci presented results from his Masters dissertation in a paper entitled, "An audio based vehicle classifier using a convolutional neural network". Ekim demonstrated that 7 different types of vehicle could be classified after training for identification on rural or low use roads with 95%+ accuracy.

Presented at Inter-Noise 22: How much Diffusio is Too Much in a Concert Hall

On the 21st Augut 2022 former MSc student Michae Fort presented his Masters dissertation work in a paper entitled, "Using non-wave based modelling to explore how mich acoustic diffusion is too much in a concert hall?" In the Computer simulation and Modelling session Michael showed results of several halls using CATT-Acoustic based simulation with varying amount of surface diffusion. 

 

Presented at Inter-Noise 22: Effect of Face Masks on Speech Intelligiblity

 
On the 22nd August 2022 MSc student Ruben Vazquez Amos presented his on-going Masters work together with James Green written up in a paper entitled, "Effect of Face Masks on Speech Intelligiblity". Ruben showed that results from Head and Torso experiments did not agree with results fro actual people in terms of sound attenuation and were significantly different for speech intellgibility at critical important frequencies. More work will follow.  

Presented at Inter-Noise 22: Otoacoustic Emission as a Hearing Assessment Tool

On the 22nd August 2022 former PhD student, Georgia Zepidou presented the latest research in collaboration with Professor Stephen Dance. In a paper entitled, "Comparison of Pure Tone Audiometry and Otoacoustic Emission based Hearing Assessment for Classical Music Students". This work was a follow up to Georgia's audiometric study and demonstrated that OAE identified more students at risk from hearing damage.  

Presented at Inter-Noise: The Effect of Paint on Fabric

 
On the 22nd August 2022 former MSc student Angela Diaz Mena presented her Masters dissertation work in a paper entitled, "Acoustic and aesthetics- the effect of paint on a fabric backed sound absorber". Angela had a myriad of questions on paint covering and coverage in the Materials session.

Presented at Inter-Noise 22: Acoustic of Panels made from Teabags

 
On the 22nd August 2022 former MSc student Stefano Mundula presented his Masters dissertation work in a paper entitled, Acoustic wave propagation through panels made of used tea bags".  In a session on Materials Stefano explained that teabags have good absorptive properties but did not smell when dried.

Presenting at Inter-Noise 22: Subwoofers in a Roman Theatre

 

On the 22nd August 2022 former student Claus Kopplin presented his Masters dissertation work in a paper entitled, "Subwoofer array design for optimal performance and minimal noise pollution in a Roman theatre". Claus hang a subwoofer array 4m in the air and demonstrated this reduced the low frequency noise levels at the nearest residences.

Presenting at Inter-Noise: Life Boat Helmet Intelligibility

 

On the 21st August 2022 former MSc student Stephen Jay presented his Masters dissertation work in a paper entitled, "The attenuation and speech intelligibility of the Gecko helmet used by the Royal National Lifeboat Institute". Stephen showed a dramatic video of him rescuing a person in a sinking car to illustrate communication difficulties. 

Presenting at Inter-Noise 22: Improving Intelligibility in Underground Stations

 

On 21st August 2022 fomer MSc student Diego Cordes presented his Masters dissertation work in a paper entitled, "Improving the intelligibility of underground station public address using horizontal Line arrays" in the Modelling and Simulation session. Diego used CATT-Acoustic to represent 1000+ sound sources in an underground station which demonstrated an 8% improvement in speech intelligiblity.

Presenting at Inter-Noise 22: Effect of Audiences in Music Venues

On the 21st August 2022 former MSc student Rebeca Sanchez presented her Masters dissertation project in a paper entitled, "Acoustic effects of elevanted platforms for standing audiences in an indoor music venue" in the Acoustics of Performance Space session. Rebeca showed using CATT-Acoustics how intellgibility was effected by a slight raising of the audience platfom.
 

Presenting at Inter-Noise 22: Sound Recording Space Versatility

 

On the 21st August 2022 at Inter-Noise 22 former MSc student, Stavros Tagios presenting his Masters dissertation in a paper entitled, "Parametric design of a module acoustic panel for sound recording space versatiliy". Stavros used Rhino with acoustic plug-ins to model the effect of box type absorbers in three recording studios. 

Presentations at Inter-Noise 22: the Quiet Project

 

On the 21st August 2022 MSc student Henry Kowalik presented his analysis of the Quiet Project dataset in a paper entitled, "Resuts from the Quiet Project: UK Acoustic Community's response to COVID19". An engaged audience were interested in the weather conditions and further analysis which will be undertaken in a future project. 

At Inter-Noise 22 the Acoustics Group chaired sessions

 

On the 24th August 2022 the Acoustics Group chaired multiple sessionat Inter-Noise 22. Professor Bridget Shield co-chaired Acoustics and Education session jointly with Arianna Alstofi from Turin University. Professor Stephen Dance organised the Modelling and Numerical Simulation theme and chaired the Computational Acoustic session and the Acoustics of Performance Spaces session. Both on-line and in-person questions were asked by the delegates at this, the first ever Inter-Noise hybird meeting,

Wednesday 17 August 2022

New kit arrives - Svantek 958A noise and vibration meter

On the 17th August 2022 the Acoustics Group received a new Svantek 958A noise and vibration Class 1 sound level meter. This kit is to be used for structural acoustics research projects, allowing environmental noise and triaxial vibration measurements to be undertaken simultaneously..

 

Frontiers for Young Minds Paper Published on Classroom Acoustics

 

On the 17th August 2022 Frontiers for Young Minds published an educational paper, "Acoustics of Classrooms" in a special edition curated by the UK Acoustics Network (UKAN) Christian Sumner. The paper was written by Professor Stephen Dance and Dr Eric Ballestero and reviewed by Year 7 school children. Many thanks to them for their really useful feedback!  

Thursday 28 July 2022

Webinar on Environmental Acoustics Assessments in Urban and Suburban Contexts

 
On the 15th November 2022 a special webinar has been organised to promote a special issue of the International Journal of Environment Research in Public Health. This is the 8th of the series and is to celebrate and promote an issue on "Environmental Acoustics Monitoring and Soundscape".  Professor Stephen Dance has been invited to talk on theQuietProject. Hope you can join us on-line

Thursday 14 July 2022

Masters students present to IOA London Branch

 

On the 13th July 2022 two Masters students from London South Bank University presented their dissertation to the Institute of Acoustics London Branch. Dr Haydar Aygun introduced Ekim Bakirci who presented his research on, "An audio based vehicle classifier using a convolved neural network". This work allowed traffic flow data to be estimated for rural and semi-rural road where no traffic flow data is available. Ekim was a full time student is now employed by AECOM. Michael Fort  presented his dissertation on, "How much acoustic diffusion is too much in a concert hall?". Michael used ODEON to model famous halls and found strong early lateral reflections were the key to good acoustics. Michael was a part-time student emplyed by Rambol. They both will be presenting at Inter-Noise 22, in Gasglow.   

Tuesday 12 July 2022

Abstract submitted to Musical Acoustics Meeting on the Acoustics of a Sitzprobe Rehearsal

 

An abstract has been submitted by Professor Dance to the Institute of Acoustics Musical Acoustics Meeting entitled, "Acoustics of Sitzprobe Rehearsals". This presentation will cover the difference between a tradtional Opera rehearsal and a Sitzprobe rehearsal under the topic "Recent Developments in Musical Acoustics". The meeting will be held at Birmingham City University on 19th October 2022. See you there! 


Thursday 7 July 2022

Royal Academy of Music Exit Audiometric and Otoacoustic hearing assessments

 

The Exit hearing assessment for the Royal Academy of Music were completed by Professor Stephen Dance on 7th July 2022. Each year 30 final year students are randomly selected to be retested. This year we used both audiometry and otoacoustic emission testing to establish hearing acuity. The students, as ever, past with flying colours!  

Wednesday 6 July 2022

Bahrain ASU Architecture students attend seminar on acoustics

 

As part of a well stablished partnership between LSBU and British University in Egypt (BUE) and Applied Science University in Bahrain (ASU), a Summer School for students of those partner universities is organised annually at the LSBU School of Built environment and Architecture (BEA). Students and staff of ASU BEng(Hons) Architecture Engineering course attended a seminar on, “Acoustics in Architecture” delivered by Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina. The engaging session was held on 4th July 2022 and covered basic theory, interactive demos and experiential learning which took place at the different chambers of our Acoustics lab. Vice President of ASU development affairs, Dr Faiza Zitouni, and the students expressed their enjoyment with the inspiring seminar. We hope we can meet again next year!

 




Thursday 9 June 2022

Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina winner of the LSBU PGR Supervisor of the Year

 

The LSBU 2021-22 Education Awards ceremony took place on 7th June 2022 in the Keyworth Events Theatre followed by a lively BBQ in Kell Street. The awards panel selected  Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina (School of BEA ) as the winner of the Post Graduate Research Supervisor of the Year award. This award is for a supervisor who has provided outstanding support to one or more postgraduate research students. The award was presented by Professor Tony Moss (LSBU Director of Student Experience) and the Student Union president.The event was organised by LSBU Student Union and attended by members of LSBU Executive and School of BEA senior management. Congratulations Luis, very well done!

 


Tuesday 31 May 2022

Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina shortlisted for PGR Supervisor award

 

The LSBU 2021-22 Education Awards panel has shortlisted Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina (School of BEA ) for the Post Graduate Supervisor of the Year award. This award is for a supervisor who has provided outstanding support to one or more postgraduate research students. The award ceremony will take place on 7 June 2022 from 17h in the Keyworth Events Theatre followed by a BBQ in Kell Street. The event is organised by our Student Union and is free to attend for students and staff. We wish best of luck for Luis to win.


Thursday 26 May 2022

Poster presentation on Otoacoustic Emissions

 

On the 27th May 2022 Professor Stephen Dance presented the early results on a new form of hearing assessment for adults at the Acoustical Society of America conference held in Denver. A new robust method based on otoacoustic emissions, using Hearing Coach software, has been demonstrated through a feasibility study undertaken in the summer of 2021. The results are very positive and the research will be continued over the next three years!

Acoustical Society of America 2022 Denver - The Drop

 

The Acoustical Society of America held their first in-person only conference in Denver, 23-27th May 2022. Professor Stephen Dance attended the Technical Committee for Architecture Acoustic meeting after visiting the famous RedRock Amphitheatre in the Rocky Mountains. There he got a demonstration of an EDM performance using just the house soundsystem. There was a big Drop! The canyon walls really helped the bass! Enjoy the video!

Tuesday 17 May 2022

Royal College of Music Hearing Assessments

 

Over three days in May 2022 hearing assessments have been undertaken for the Royal College of Music by Prof Stephen Dance and Dr Rob Shepheard. The work combined audiometry testing and otoacoustic emission assessment to help the students with their hearing conservation programme. 

Saturday 14 May 2022

Callux breaks World Record for Staying Quiet!


 Callux has produced a new Youtube video, "Staying in the Quietest Room in the World until I went Crazy". He again visited the anechoic chamber at London South Bank University to create an engaging video on a most weird acoustic experience. Callux managed to smash his own 2019 record staying 4 hours+ in the chamber! You can the edited version  here