Acoustics Group 2017 Christmas Roundup

We thank you for all your support over 2017. The Acoustics Group expanded this year with the appointment of our new lecturer: Dr Haydar Aygun. More students won awards including Eric Ballestero winning the Acoustical Society of America Newman medal, Nathan Gregory winning the RBA  Acoustics Prize, Nathan Pounds and Richard Evans winning CIBSE Bursaries. Ben Dymock successfully defended his PhD thesis and Nick Durup submitted his doctorate. Links with the Institute of Acoustics with the Acoustics Group have been strengthened with our successful reaccreditation. We hosted the IOA Art of Being a Consultant day meeting, and presented at three evenings branch meetings. Conferences included: ICSV 24, 5th European Occupational Voice Symposium and 173rd ASA/EAA Boston. New Links were formed with the Royal Opera House, BBC Singers, Wandsworth Council, and King’s College. We also made new friends from India, Indonesia, Chile and France. Finally, 48 students were enrolled on our postgraduate courses this autumn. We wish them luck with their respective courses. Best wishes for 2018 from the Acoustics Group.

IOA Event: BS4142 and it's context

London South Bank University will be hosting a full day Institute of Acoustics Event - BS4142 AND CONTEXT - A WORKSHOP ON WHAT IT IS AND MOVING FORWARD. Practical details: 10am Thursday 8th February 2018 at the Keyworth Centre on Keyworth Street, nearest tube is Elephant and Castle. There will be a chance to quiz some of the EH/1 panel

Development of the Acoustics Technician Apprenticeship

Funding has been won by the Acoustics Group to develop a Level 4 acoustics course to meet the end point assessment requirements of the Acoustics Technician Apprenticeship. This new apprenticeship has been created by the Institute of Acoustics Education committee working party. The New Year is going to be busy!

Student End of Year Celebrations!

The Acoustics students came together for the annual Christmas party to celebrate the end of the most successful year and our future successes. We'd like to thank all the students for joining the courses. We hope you had fun, made new friends and most importantly learnt something about sound and vibration

PhD Candidate Nick Durup submit his thesis

PhD candidate, Nick Durup, has submitted his doctoral thesis. The thesis is entitle, "An investigation into the effects of classroom acoustics on teachers' voices". We all wish him luck with his defence on the 26th January 2018.

Munro Acoustics India visit the Acoustics Group

Kapli Thirwani from Munro Acoustics will be developing opportunities in acoustic education in India. He paid a visit to the Acoustics Group to hear from Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina and his experience as IOA Diploma Course Director and his experience with India and Indian students. We hope to see Kapil in India or London again soon!

Institute of Acoustics re-accredits London South Bank University

On the 8th December 2017 The Acoustics Group gained re-accreditation to run two Institute of Acoustics courses: The Certificate of Competence in Environmental Noise Measurement, and the Diploma in Acoustics and Noise Control. The accreditation covers students enrolling on the courses from 2018 to 2022. Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina, Course Director, will continue the successful collaboration with the Institute. Well done Luis on a job well done!

Abstract submitted to Euronoise 2018

An abstract has been submitted by Acoustic Group PhD student, Doug Shearer, for the Elastics and Metamaterials session at Euronoise 2018 to be held in late May 2018. The paper is entitled,"Towards a novel acoustic absorber using a magnetically induced geometric nonlinearity in an elastic membrane". Hope to see you in Crete! 

Abstract on Helicopter Noise community response accepted by Euronoise 2018

An abstract by Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina and Dr Steve Dance has been recently accepted to be published and presented at Euronoise 2018 conference to be held on 28-31 May 2018 in Crete (Greece). The abstract of the paper is entitled “Community response from noise emissions from London heliport operation” and reports on the perception, attitudes and impact of London Heliport on local residents. We hope to see you at the conference next year and give us your thoughts on the paper

Research Paper Published on Speech Spectrum

On 23rd November 2017 Dr Lorenzo Morales published a paper based on his PhD thesis on the speech spectrum used in the STI index. The link to the Applied Acoustics Journal will be active until 10th January 2018. Happy Reading!

Launch of the Acoustics Network - UKAN!

On the 27th November 2017 the EPSRC funded Acoustics Network was launched at the Royal Society, London. The Acoustics Group were out in forced contributing to three specialist interests group: Noise, Metamaterials and Communication. There are currently six further SIGs. Catchy names abounded with UKAN and Acoustics.ac.uk as the website. More than 100 acousticians discussed how links with industry could be improved to meet the challenges of the next 20 years!

Steve presents at the IOA Musical Acoustics Meeting

On the 21st November 2017 Dr Stephen Dance presented to the Institute of Acoustics Musical Acoustic Group on, "Face the Music: An in-depth analysis of the long term hearing acuity of classical music students". At the AGM Steve was made Chair-Elect of the Musical Acoustics Group.

Luis presents to IOA Musical Acoustics meeting

The Institute of Acoustics Musical Acoustics Group held their annual meeting at Nottingham conference centre on 21st November 2017. Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina delivered a talk on, "The need for acoustics education in performance music syllabi". He had consensus from the audience on the need to provide musicians with some degree of acoustic knowledge.

A Double CIBSE Bursary Nomination for Acoustics students

Two students of acoustics where recently nominated the CIBSE Bursary to help study on the Masters course on Environmental and Architectural Acoustics. Well done Nathan and Richard. Please make sure you have a good use of the money!

Abstract submitted to Euronoise 2018

An abstract has been submitted by the Acoustics Group for the Aircraft/Heliport Noise session at the Euronoise 2018 conference organised by the European Acoustical Association. The paper is entitled, "An Investigation of the Noise from London Heliport and the Effect on the Local Residents". See you in Crete!

Acoustics Group Open House

On the 15th November 2017 the Acoustics Group had an open house where groups could experience the various acoustic chambers. We had a STEM organised event with upprojects.com where 6th former students came to listen and be heard with Ghislaine Leung. We also had the audio students from the University of West London came in the listen and record in the anechoic chamber. We hope everyone enjoyed their day!

London Battersea Heliport Reports on Noise Produced

After 6 months of work, commissioned by Wandsworth Council, two reports on the objective and subjective noise from London Battersea Heliport, have been completed. The reports were written by Dr Stephen Dance and Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina and will be discussed at the next Heliport Consultative Meeting in the new year.

Abstract accepted for Musical Acoustics one day meeting at Nottingham 2017

An abstract submitted by Luis Gomez-Agustina has been accepted for the Institute of Acoustics 21st century developments in musical sound production, presentation and reproduction. The one day meeting will be held at the Nottingham Conference centre immediately before the start of Reproduced Sound on the 21st November 2017. The abstract of the talk to be delivered is entitled, "Do performance musicians need basic acoustic education ?". We hope to see many of you in Nottingham

BBC Singers seminar on music and the sound of performance

On the 7th November 2017 Dr Stephen Dance was invited by Rob Johnston of the BBC Singers to give an address at the Royal Society of Obstetricians at Regents Parks. The seminar included the very latest research was on music and the sound of performance. The audience was highly engaged and even volunteered to assist with the final stage of the research!   

Kickoff meeting for the refurbishment of the Choral Rehearsal Room

On the evening of the 6th November 2017 the kickoff meeting for the refurbishment of the Choral Rehearsal Room at the Royal Opera House took place. The design work is being undertaken by Theatre Projects with the assistance of the Acoustics Group to improve the environment for the opera singers.  

Graduation 2017

On the 6th November 2017 at the Royal Festival Hall this year's acoustics students graduated in style. Well done to all of you, sorry I couldn't meet John's or Finn's better halves, but I did meet Rodrigo's, Nathan's and Ben's.

Royal Opera House sponsored PhD

On the 23rd October 2017 the Royal Opera House became a co-sponsor of an LSBU Research Scholarship. Eric Ballestero will investigate a new Virtual Reality based tool to acoustic issues at the Royal Opera House. We wish Eric and the new collaboration well!

Acoustic in Music Training at IOA London Branch

The October 2017 London branch meeting talk was delivered by Luis Gomez-Agustina yesterday evening (18 October2017). It presented results from the current research in to the potential introduction of basic acoustic education into the performance music curriculum. The audience was formed by acousticians, trained musicians and acousticians with formal music backgrounds. The talk was very well received and generated significant interest prompting some challenging questions. In an informal raise of hand consultation at the end of the talk, attendees agreed unanimously with the conclusive finding presented from the UK wide research. 

New PhD student Eric Ballestero

Eric Ballestero has joined the Acoustics Group as a PhD student working on Virtual Reality. Eric is a former Masters student on our Environmental and Architectural Acoustics programme. Dr Stephen Dance and Dr Haydar Aygun will be the supervisory team on this exciting project. Welcome to the Acoustics Group!

New PhD student Rodrigo Sanchez-Pianzi

Rodrigo Sanchez-Pianzi has joined the Acoustics Group as a PhD student working with King's College London. Rodrigo is a former Masters student on our Environmental and Architectural Acoustics programme and is now a part-time researcher investigating speech for non native English speakers. Dr Stephen Dance and Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina will act as the supervisory team on this interesting study. Welcome to the Acoustics Group!

New Recruits on the IoA Dilpoma course

This year's Institute of Acoustics Diploma students, a cohort of 18 keen and enthusiastic people eager to learn! We all hope they learn, laugh and make life time friendships.

New recruits on the Masters programme

The 2017 cohort of Masters student on the Environmental and Architectural Acoustics course. We hope they all enjoy their time with us and learn how fun acoustics can be!

IOA Certificate of Competence 2017 Recruits

Between the 2nd and 13th October the Acoustics Group enrolled 13 students on the Institute of Acoustics Certificate of Competence for Environmental Noise Measurement. The course team, lead by Luis Gomez-Agustina with the assistance of Stephen Dance and Haydar Aygun. We hope they all enjoyed the course and wish them the best of luck with their exams!

First dry wall construction workshop for Acousticians

The first hands-on dry wall construction sound insulation  workshop for Acousticians has been held at Building Research Establishment (BRE) lab facilities on 27 September 2017. The fully subscribed event has been organised through a collaboration between the IOA London Branch, BRE and Knauf. Ex LSBU MSc acoustic student  Eugenie Sainte Cluque, Luis Gomez-Agustina (LSBU) and Peter Turner of Assured Acoustics, attended as the organisation team. The workshop has been a clear success and there are plans to run it again

Luis Gomez-Agustina to presented to the IOA London Branch

On the 18th October 2017 Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina will give a presentation to the Institute of Acoustics London Branch. His talk will be on the question of, "Do performance musicians need acoustic education?". I hope you can join us at WSP HQ on Chancery Lane at 6pm!

Acoustic Group features on IOA Blog

An short article by Luis Gomez-Agustina has been published on the September 2017 issue of the Institute of Acoustics (IOA) Blog http://www.ioa.org.uk/acoustics-and-music-forgotten-link The article adds to the interesting and varied topics published in that blog. We hope you enjoy the article and participate (if applicable) in the questionnaires    

London Heliport presentation to the consultative committee

On 18^th September 2017 some results from the London heliport noise study were presented  by Luis Gomez-Agustina to the consultative group at Wandsworth Town. Subjective and objective results showed a high incidence on a large number of affected residents by noise generated from the London Heliport operation. The presentation was received with avid interest and was followed by many questions and lively discussions.

We hope to continue working with the three boroughs to help control and minimise helicopter noise disturbance. Spl please watch this space.

Royal Academy of Music Hearing Tests are Go!

Over the next 2 weeks 349 students of the Royal Academy of Music will have their hearing tested at London South Bank University's acoustics laboratory. This is the 11th year of the on-going study to establish the hearing acuity of classical and jazz musicians.

Abstract submitted to CIBSE Symposium

London South Bank University is hosting this year's CIBSE conference in April 2018. Dr Stephen Dance and Dr Ben Dymock have submitted an abstract entitled, "Urban wind turbines: A London based Feasibility Study". Looking forward to the Technical Symposium!

Seminars to the Royal Academy Of Music

For the 11th year. Dr Stephen Dance gave a series of lectures to the new students of the Royal Academy of Music on Musicians' Hearing and the Sound of Performance. The seminars are tailored to four different instrument groups and use the data collected over the past ten years to bring the subject to life! This year the lecture room was the Dukes Hall, as it was in 2007!

Gizem Okten to present at IOA meeting

On the 13th September 2017 former PhD student Gizem Okten will present her research at a joint Institute o Acoustics London Branch combined with the Speech and Hearing group meeting. Gizem's doctorate was on the effects of acoustics on vocal strain of opera singers. We are all looking forward to her presentation.

New structure of the Acoustics Group

Welcome to 2017/18 and the new expanded Acoustics Group teaching team. We have a lot to look forward to in the coming academic year. In October we run the IOA Certificate in Environmental Noise Measurement. In April we host the CIBSE Technical Symposium at London South Bank University, And of course we welcome our new PhD students who join us from the Masters programme.

New lecturer to join the Acoustics Group

On the 1st September 2017 Dr Haydar Aygun will join the Acoustics Group of London South Bank University. Haydar was the course director of the Masters course in Applied Acoustics at Southampton Solent. He is expert in mechanical engineering specialising in acoustic properties of materials. Haydar is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Member of the Institute of Acoustics and the Acoustical Society of America. Welcome to the Acoustics Group!

Acoustics Group assisting the Trailblazer Apprenticeship in Building Services

For 2017/18 the  Acoustics Group is assisting in the delivery of a new London South Bank University Apprenticeship degree in Building Services. As such new sound and vibration equipment has been purchased. The instrumentation includes: 3 NTi class 1 sound level meters with associated analysis software and 3 vibration meters and calibrators. Further information on apprenticeships will follow!

Chileans visit the Acoustics Lab

On the 1st August 2017 the largest ever delegation of Chilean acoustic engineers visited London South Bank University. The delegation had recently attended ICSV 24 and wanted to learn more about the work of the Acoustics Group. A most pleasant afternoon was spend discussing possible collaborative opportunities.

Visitors to the Acoustics Lab

After the ICSV conference had finished the Acoustics Group invited an Indonesian delegation to visit the laboratory. On the 29th July 2017 Indraswari Kusumaningtyas and Gea Parikesit from Universitas Gadjah Mada were show around our facilities by Stephen Dance. Ari was particularly interested in our educational courses and the research in musical acoustics. One day we come and visit their laboratory!

Movie Shot in the Acoustics Laboratory

Whilst ICSV 24 was going on the Acoustics Laboratory was free, hence a film crew came in to shoot a movie, due for release in 2018. The psychology thriller was particularly interested in the anechoic chamber and the sound booths!

Acoustic Group assists with ISCV 24

At ICSV 24 the Institute of Acoustics required some additional help, so the call went out to acoustic students! The call was answered by ISVR and the Acoustics Group. So a special thanks goes to Eugenie, Doug, Dhruvit and Ian for all their running around!

International Congress on Sound and Vibration 24

Between 23-27 July 2017 London hosted the International Congress on Sound and Vibration. This was the 24th such meeting organised jointly by the Institute of Acoustics and the International Institute of Acoustics and Vibration, of whom Dr Stephen Dance is a founding member. At the meeting there were 1040 delegates presenting 940 papers from 60 countries.  The presentations were given in 16 parallel sessions over 4 days. The event was a great success with many discussions which went on late in the evening!

International Congress on Sound of Vibration comes to London!

The International Congress on Sound and Vibration came to London, July 23-27th 2017. The host were the Plaza Hotel opposite the Palace of Westminster. This location is just 12 minute walk from London South Bank University were we are based. The Acoustics Group had a significant presence at the conference with five papers presented, one theme organised - Musical Acoustics, and four assistants helping out with the running of the event. Our thanks go to all of them for doing such an amazing job!

PhD student Gizem Okten presents at ICSV 24

On Monday 24th July former PhD student Gizem Okten presented her research to ICSV 24 in the Musical Acoustics session. Gizem's paper was entitled, "An investigation into the effect of acoustics on vocal strain of Opera singers". This research summarized her entire doctoral thesis! Gizem now works at WSP in their London office.

MSc student Eric Ballestero presents at ICSV 24

On Wednesday 26th July 2017 MSc student Eric Ballestero presented his Masters thesis on Virtual Reality at ICSV 24. Eric presented in the Signal Processing session his paper was entitled, "Head tracked auralisation for a dynamic audio experience for a dynamic audio experience in virtual reality sceneries". Eric is now a PhD student on our doctoral programme so he can continue with the research.

MSc student Rodrigo Sanchez-Pizani prresents at ICSV 24

On Tuesday 25th July 2017 MSc student Rodrigo Sanchez-Pizani presented his Masters thesis to ICSV 24. Rodrigo's presentation was in the Room Acoustics session and entitled, "Impact that acoustic design has on higher education for non-English speaking students". He has just been funded by King's College to continue the work as a PhD student.

Luis Gomez presents at ICSV 24

On Monday 24th July 2017 Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina gave a presentation at ICSV 24 to Education Project and Policy on, "Do performance musicians need acoustic education?". After asking the audience there was a unanimous answer!