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!