Noise Network+ 1sr General Assembly

 

On the 31st March 2026 at the Melia Innside Hotel Manchester the EPSRC funded Noise+ Network held it's first General Assembly. The event coordinated and focused it mission and presented six pilot research projects. Post event Pizza and drinks allowed discussions to continue. Highly enjoyable. Good luck with year 2!

Examination of Peter Wheeler at the Open University

 

On the 30th March 2026 Professor Stephen Dance examined PhD candidate Peter Wheeler for the Open University. Peter's thesis was entitled, "The missing fundamental phenomenon as a method for low frequency noise mitigation". The candidate defended the novel research which was undertaken with Vangardia Consulting. Well done Peter!   

Art of Being an Acoustician 2026

 

On the 19th March 2026 the Institute of Acoustics held their annual Art of Being meetings. Professor Stephen Dance organised the first day, the Art of Being an Acoustician, whilst PhD student Zach Simcox organised day 2. On the first day 8 speakers covering: experience (Bridget Shield and Ken Mariott), execution (Antonella Bevilacqua, Enzo de Sena, Braford Backus) and early careers (Zach Simcox and Alec Korchev) presented their journey into acoustics and challenging problems. The event was held at St Giles Hotel, in Central London, where we bumped into Quentin Tarantino! No time to talk about sound stage design though :)  We had 25 and 35 attendees for each day.

Royal Opera House Music Practice Room

 

On the 6th March 2026 the Acoustic Group visited the Royal Opera House to assess the Music Practice Rooms. PhD students Simla Turhan and Antonella Bevilacqua lead the room acoustic measurements with Professor Stephen Dance asking the assistance of members of the Royal Ballet and Opera for their opinion of the space. We may have a practical solution !! 

Big Growth Project completed with Depixen

On the 26th February 2026 at the new London South Bank University Croydon campus a celebration event was held for the BIG Growth innovation London. Professor Stephen Dance, Alex Hokin were in attendance to celebrate with Yildiz Kara a representative of Depixen. The Depixen project was a great success bringing AI to Architecture in particular acoustics materials. The next steps were agreed, so we are going international, Istanbul bound in May 2026!  

 

Association of Architecture Students Visit Acoustics Laboratory

On the 19th February 2026 the 4th year students from the School of the Association of Architects visited the Acoustics Laboratory of London South Bank University. The now annual trip jointly organised by Professor Stephen Dance (LSBU) with Dr Doug Shearer and Ms Laura Azcarate both from the AA. This year the students got to test their hearing, maximise absorption,  experience silence and good some good vibrations!    

 

Acoustic measurement taken at the Royal Opera House

 

On the 16th February 2026 acoustic measurements were taken at the Royal Opera House in their Clore Studio. A full set of laser scans, room acoustic measurements, material impedance measurements, ambisonic measurements,  and background noise measurements were taken in 3 hours. This was thanks to a team of students: Matt Ward (Diploma), Antonella Bevilacqua (PhD), Simla Turhan (PhD) under the tutorage of Professor Stephen Dance. Together let's see if we can come up with a suitable design!

Journal article published on the Royal Festival Hall

 

On the 16th February 2026 a paper was published in the Building Acoustics journal. The article was based on Antonella Bevilacqua Masters thesis. The paper was written in collaboration with her supervisor Professor Stephen Dance is entitled, "Acoustic evolution and performance analysis of the Royal Festival Hall". You can read it here!

 

Diploma students present at IOA London Branch

 

On the 11th February 2026 three IOA Diploma students presented their project work to the Institute of Acoustics London Branch. The three students were Caroline Mckinlay, Jason Corr and Jake Tomlinson. The projects covered acoustics of school dinning halls, a home studio design and the development a sustainable material selection tool. The hybrid meeting was well attended, we had a waiting list for the first time! Well done everyone!

New Grant won from the Royce Institute

 

On the 3rd February the Henry Royce Institute announced the winners of the Metamaterials Industrial Collaboration Programme. The application from Federico Rossi and Professor Stephen Dance was accepted based on BAAMM or, "Biobased Acoustic Additive Manufactured Material". The work will be with our long standing partners Symbio-Tex and NHS Guys and St Thomas's Trust. The real work will be undertaken by research associate Ruben Vazquez-Amos. Congratulations one and all!  

IOA Diploma students to present at London Branch

 

On Wednesday 11th February 2026 three IOA Diploma students from 24-25 cohort will present their dissertations at a London Branch evening event to be held at London South Bank University. The students are Jason Corr, Jake Tomlinson and Caroline Mckinlay. The presentations cover: "Home studio design", "Sustainable acoustic materials" and "School dining halls". See you at 6pm!

Professor Dance becomes I-INCE General Secretary

On the 21st January 2026 the International Institute of Noise Control Engineering held their Executive Board meeting. At this meeting Professor Stephen Dance from London South Bank University become the General Secretary of I-INCE for 2026-2030. He hopes that he can develop opportunities for young professions and for developing nations in all areas of acoustics.

 

New Research Project with Depixen

 

A new AI based research project has commenced with Depixen to enhance their Archipick software. The project is funded by London's Big Growth fund. Professor Stephen Dance is leading on the acoustic materials aspect of the project. Perhaps this will lead to an intelligent design tool! 

The start of a new era in teaching!

On the 19th January 2026 a new era for teaching started in Acoustics at London South Bank University. For the first time the Institute of Acoustics Diploma students are being taught using a Block Release format. This term Building Acoustics and Noise and Vibration Control Engineering are being taught over 2 non-consecutive weeks. Let's see how this experiment turns out!

 

Kind Donation of Acoustic Kit

On the 12th January 2026 a very kind donation of acoustics kit was received. We now have 3 Binaural Observers (Bob), Modern Meters from Norsonic,  Svantek and B&K, as well as Ambisonic microphones, a B&K Omni directional sound and a multitude of calibrators! This will significantly help with the speech intelligibility research. Many thanks from the entire Acoustics Group team.  

 

Venue for Art of Being an Acoustician/Consultant announced

 

The Art of Being Series is meetings aimed at early career acousticians is continuing its journey around the UK. This year on 19/20th March 2026 at the St Giles Hotel in central London the Art of Being an Acoustician and the Art of Being a Consultant will be held. This has been jointly organised by the Institute of Acoustics and the Associated of Noise Consultants. We hope all budding Diploma and PhD students can attend - its £40 for both and includes lunch and drinks! Zach Simcox (IOA EC lead) and Professor Stephen Dance have organised these for you to enjoy!

New PhD student: Antonella Bevilacqua

 

Doctoral candidate Antonella Bevilacqua has joined the Acoustics Group to undertake a PhD under the supervision of Professor Stephen Dance. Previously Antonella was both an IOA Diploma and Masters students. Her thesis is preliminarily entitled, "Acoustic assessment of Performing Arts Space: from Ancient Theatres to Modern Concert Halls". Welcome to the team!