Summing Up Acoustics 2021

 

We thank you all for your support over what can only be described as another difficult year. To summarise links with IOA were further strengthened with 4 virtual seminars held on theQuietProject.co.uk, Metamaterials and Teaching at a time of a pandemic given by both staff and students. Seven presentations were given by staff and students at various virtual conferences including the hybrid IOA annual conference,  Inter-Noise and Euronoise. Four journal papers were published on Metadiffusers, London Heliport, Room Acoustics using FDTD, and theQuietProject.co.uk. Four prizes were awarded to IOA Student: Rory Hendrick (NTi award), PhD student Eric Ballestero (IO A Young Innovator Award)  and Professor Stephen Dance (Noise Abatement Society for Callux Video and for theQuietProject.co.uk) with a special mention for Professor Emertia Bridget Shield on the award of her MBE. Of course, congratulations should go to Eric Ballestero for completion of this doctorate! Substantial investment in new equipment occurred in particular Nti kit and the latest Nor150 sound meter with Intensity Probe. Enterprise activities grew with the IOA Short course run, the Royal Academy of Music renewing their relationship and KPMG instigating their experiential lecture series. We welcomed a new lecturer: Dr Hyun Lim. Next year will see the start of the long awaited Apprenticeship in Acoustics and the results of REF21! Happy New Year to you all.

IOA students to present at London Branch

 

On the 18th January 2022 the IOA London branch have arranged for three students selected from the LSBU IOA cohort of 2020/21 to compete for the NTI-Audio best project award. This is the third year the competition has run and this year will be on-line. The presentations will cover gyms, change of use of rooms, and outdoor concerts, hope you can join us at this now annual event! 

Acoustics Group Christmas Party

 

The Acoustics Group Christmas Party was back! On 2nd December 2021 students and staff gathered round heat lamps to sit outside and celebrate the end of a frustrating year. Blended learning is here to stay but we did all miss face to face teaching which we hope you enjoyed. See you on Teams next week - you'll have to bring your own mince pies! 

Welcome to our new lecturer in Acoustics

 

On the 15th November 2021 Dr Hyun Lim joined London South Bank University as a senior lecturer in acoustics and building services engineering. Dr Lim will lead our new Apprenticeship in Acoustics programme as well as support the teaching on Undergraduate, Diploma and Masters courses. His background is in aeroacoustics and noise control through digital signalling techniques. We warmly welcome him to the team!  

ANC Conference 2021

 

On the 25th November 2021 the Association of Noise Consultants held their annual conference in-person at the International Convention Centre, Birmingham. Professor Bridget Shield gave an overview of her jounrney in acoustics and Professor Stephen Dance was invited up as one of the judging panel for the various awards distributed to worthy consultancies. An excellent evening was had by all! 

Winning paper at IDoBE conference

The Centre for the Integrated Delivery of the Built Environment (IDoBE) at London South Bank University (LSBU) has held an international online conference  https://idobeconf-lsbu.co.uk/ 22-23 November 2021. The conference theme was, “Uncertainties in the Built Environment: How can we build a resilient future in the new normal ?”. The Acoustics Group represented by Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina co-authored a paper with the main author Eyob Kibrom and other colleagues entitled The impact of using internet of things (IoT) to improve the operational performance of commercial buildings. The article has won the best paper award in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Digital Technologies category.  We hope you enjoy the read.

Ecophon and Jestico + Whiles Architects visit the lab

 

On the 10th November 2021 Ecophon, part of Saint Gobain Group, and Ben Marston Director at Jestico + Whiles visited the Acoustics Laboratory at London South Bank University. Professor Stephen Dance gave a short lecture on sound and it's  impact on wellbeing to the group. The visit ended over a decent lunch kindly provided by Ecophon.  

Dr Aygun presents to Euronoise'21 on Vibroacoustics

Dr Aygun presented his research ouputs at Euronoise 2021 on Monday 25th October. The title of the paper was, "Vibroacoustic analysis of composite thin fibreglass plate". The work investigated the composite plat deflection, sound radiation from the plates, vibroacoustics indicators and finally investigated plate radiation impedance matrix. 
 

LSBU wins big at the Noise Abatement Society

 

On the 20th October 2021 the Noise Abatement Society held their annual awards ceremony at the House of Commons, Palace of Westminster in the presence of the Under Secretary for the Environment Rebecca Pow MP and hosted by Colonel Bob Stewart MP. LSBU had a double win. First, the Future Sound Foundation Award for theQuietProject wth KSG Acoustics. Second, for the Next Generation Award for a Youtube video with Callux. The award was presented by Emertius Professor Bridget Shield to Professor Stephen Dance which seems to confuse Bob.  

Prof Stephen Dance presents at IOA Hybrid Conference

 

On the 12th October 2021 Professor Stephen Dance chaired the Music, Speech and Hearing session at the IOA Annual Conference (Hybrid). Stephen took 9 students to the meeting to listen to his presentation on "Sound exposure of Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral". Lots of discussion around the music sung by choristers followed by beers at the Little Ship Club members bar! 

Dr Haydar Aygun presents at IOA Conference 2021

 

On the 12th October 2021, Dr Haydar Aygun presented his research at the IOA Hybrid Conference. He presented via Zoom and was watched by 10 of his Masters students at the London Hub at the Little Ship Club. Haydar's paper was on, "Sound radiation from a composite plate".

Dr Eric Ballestero presents award winning research

 

On the 11th October 2021, Dr Eric Ballestero, former PhD student at LSBU presented his award winning research to the IOA Annual Conference (Hybrid). Eric won the IOA Young Innovator Award 2021 and so presented in the Physical  Acoustic sessions on, "Metadiffusers in auditoria 3D FDTD modelling using RLC circuits". This allowed full audio frequencies to be simulated in an orchestra pit using wave based modelling. Well done Eric! 

Two nominations for the Noise Abatement Society Awards

 

The Acoustics Group has been shortlisted by the Noise Abatement Society for the John Connell Awards. The nomination was for the Callux Youtube video which now has 14 million+ views and for the Quiet Project which provided baseline noise levels across the country with 4000+ days of data recorded as well as soundscape observations of Lockdowns 1/2/3. This research project being in collaboration with KSG Acoustics utilising the UKAN grant. The ceremony will be held at the Palace of Westminster on the 20th October 2021. Wish us luck!

Eric Ballestero awarded his PhD

 

On the 5th October 2021 Eric Ballestero was awarded his PhD for his doctoral thesis entitled, "Overhauling sound diffusion in auditoria using deep subwavelength acoustic metamaterials". Eric produced three fantastic journal papers during his 3.5 years of study at London South Bank University. Well done Dr Eric!!

Welcome to the Masters students 2021-22

 

The Acoustics team are delighted to welcome the new MSc students to the Environmental and Architectural Acoustics course 2021-22. Everything is back to normal and we plan on a highly active programme with lots of field trips! Welcome!

Welcome 2021-22 IOA Diploma students

 

The 2021-2022 course of Institute of Acoustics (IOA) Diploma in Acoustics at LSBU has commenced. Course director Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina welcomed the students and introduced the course. This is eight time that LSBU runs the IOA Diploma course since it was reinstated in Sept 2013. Fifteen students have joined this  academic year intake.  This cohort has a varied composition comprising of Music Technology, Audio Engineering, Geology, Urban planning, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering 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.

The Acoustics Group welcome new PhD student Onur Ozkaya

 

Onur Ozkaya has been welcomed as a new acoustics based PhD student. Dr Haydar Aygun is Onur's supervisor. Onur has just defended his PhD RES-2 stage in “Quantitative intelligence in architectural acoustics”.  Just three more years to go!

Royal Academy of Music Hearing Tests

 
For the 15th year the Royal Academy of Music have collaborated with London South Bank University to undertake hearing tests for all new students. Prof Stephen Dance is using a new technique called Otoacoustic Emission to establish at the earliest possible stage any hearing damage to the musicians. This is backed up by the gold standard, Pure Tone Audiometry tests which are regularly undertaken by the students.

First on-line seminar to the new Royal Academy of Music students

 

On the 14th September 2021 Professor Stephen Dance was invited by the Royal Academy of Music to give his annual lecture to the new students. The topic was, "Musicians' Hearing and the Sound of Performance". All the students attended on-line to the 1 hour seminar and many interesting questions were asked relating to musician experience. Many thanka go to Nicola Mutton for organising the event.

Paper on Room Acoustic Metamaterials published in Applied Sciences

 

Dr Eric Ballestero has had his third paper from his PhD thesis published. The article was accepted by Applied Sciences and was entitled, "Scattering evaluation of EquivalentSurface Impedances of Acoustic Metamaterial in Large FDTD Volumes using RLC Circuit Modelling". The paper describes how very fine structural detail can be accurately modelled even in auditoria using wave based room acoustic simulations. Outstanding team work by staff from University of Le Mans, London South Bank University and University of Valencia!  

400 Happy Ears Arrive for Music Students

For 2021/22 400 pairs of Happy Ears have been purchased for every new Royal Academy of Music student. For the 15th year the students will be visiting the Acoustics Laboratory from mid September where there ears will be sized and given (for free) appropriate hearing protection. Happy Ears were specifically designed as musician hearing protection.

New Norsonic Intensity Probe

 

The Acoustics Group recently purchased a Norsonic Nor150 dual channel sound analyser. This will provide a backup to our existing Norsonic Nor121 analyser. In addition, we have purchased the Nor1290 sound intensity probe which will be used to assess sound power output in accordance to ISO 9614. We hope the apprentices and students make good use of the kit and please don't break this delicate instrument! 

Doug Shearer completes his doctorate

It is with great pleasure that we announce that PhD candidate Doug Shearer has completed his doctorate. Doug joined us in 2016 to study, "Case Studies in the absorption of low frequency sound in music rooms". He always did like bass. Well done Dr Doug!
 

MSc student presents at InterNoise 2021 on the Impact of Drones on a Rural Community

 

On the 3rd August 2021 MSc student Joxie Nixon presented her dissertation work at Inter-Noise 2021, Washington. This was an on-line conference where Josie combined her IOA Diploma work with her Masters thesis to produced a paper for the Drone Noise in Communities session. The paper entitled, "Attack of the Drones: Exploration of the sound power levels emitted and the impact ofdrones on a rural village" was well received with three tricky questions answered. Well done Josie!

IOA Annual Conference Accepted Abstracts

 

The Acoustics Group wil be well represented at the annual IOA Conference 2021. This year the meeting will be virtual 11/12th October 2021. Professor Stephen Dance will present on, "Sound exposure of the Choristers of St Paul's Catheral" in the Speech and Hearing Session. Dr Haydar Aygun will present on, "Sound radiation from composite plates". This should be the final virutal meeting. Let's all hope so!

New Course offer: Acoustics Technican Apprenticeship

 

It is with great pleasure for London South Bank University to offer the first Acoustics Apprenticeship course for entry in September 2021, Day 1: 20th September 2021. The course is open for employees in acoustics related industries. The course is run on a day release basis. The taught aspect of the course runs over 18 months. The course level is 4 (1st year undergraduate level) leading to TechIOA. There is an End Point Assessment to be competed after 2 years and will be operated by the Institute of Acoustics leading to AMIOA and TechEng status. To apply, for more information.    

Inter-Noise 2021 Presentation on Teaching under COVID

 
On 3rd August 2021 Professor Stephen Dance presented to Inter-Noise 2021  in an active Education in Acoustics session.  He presented on, "Teaching acoustics under COVID: Lab in a Box for Experiments at Home". There was then a round robin discussion on the legacy and future possibility of using the resources produced very quickly under difficult circumstances.

Opening of Inter-Noise 2021 eCongress

The 50th InterNoise conference 1st-5th August 2021 opened on-line. This I-INCE conference was originally organised to be staged in Washington DC but had to be moved to a virtual platform. The conference has 7 Plenary talks, 120 Technical Sessions organised over 4 days using 7 parallel sessions. 945 delegates have registered of which 240 students will present. The presentations will be available on-line until 5th October 2021. Prof Stephen Dance represented the Institute of Acoustics for the I-INCE Board of Directors voting and also represented Europe/Africa as part of the Congress Selection Committee. Let's see how the 16 hour long virtual days works, a time zone for everyone!

Paper published on Metadiffusers with quasi perfect and broadband diffusion

 

On the 26th July 2021 Applied Physical Letters published our paper entitled, "Metadiffusers for Quasi Perfect and Broadband Sound Diffusion". This was the penultimate paper produced by PhD candidate Eric Ballestero in collaboration with the University of Le Mens and the University of Valencia. It was a theoretical study of metadiffuser designs using analytical and numerical methods. You can read the paper here. Well done Dr Eric!

New Instrumentation for the Apprenticeship Students

 

Significant investment in new acoustic kit for the incoming apprenticeship course. The kit, all from NTi-Audio, includes 5 Class 1 XL2 meters with extension packs and speech intellibility module, Minirators, Windshields, a TalkBox, and a Turntable. We hope the students don't break them!!  

Architectural Acoustic Book Launch

 

On 22nd July 2021 Prof Raf Orlowski held a book launch for his recently pubished book, "Acoustics in Arhcitectural Design" published by Crowood Press and available for £20 or £12 as a Kindle Book. Great to see so many old friends for the first time in 18 months including Prof. Bridget Shield MBE. My review is a very accessible book. 

Acoustics Technician Apprenticeship course validated at LSBU

 

On 20 July 2021 a novel acoustics apprenticeship course (level 4) was validated by London South Bank University. Academic development was halted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . However in April 2021 progress resumed with the apprenticeship academic lead Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina, and the rest of the academic team working hard to have the course validated in time before recruitment can commence in July 2021. The course is planned to start in September 2021. LSBU will be the first UK academic institution to run an acoustics apprenticeship course. Well done for this achievement and best wishes for the for the future of the course.     

End of a Pandemic Year.. We survived!

We made it through 2020/21 the year of the pandemic! Many thanks go to Hourly Paid Lecturers Eric Ballestero and Doug Shearer who assisted with the delivery of the courses. At least we did mange to met the students... twice... both times in the pub! Much more fun than MS Teams. I do have emails where the App sent me the drink bills. We wish all the students good fortune for the future! 

 

Eric Ballestero Defends his Doctoral Thesis

 

On the 16th July 2021 PhD candidate Eric Ballestero defended his doctoral thesis, "Overhauling sound diffusion in auditoria using acoustic metamaterials. Eric's examiners Prof Trevor Cox and Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina were joined by supervisory team Prof Stephen Dance, Dr Haydar Aygyn and international supervisor Dr Vicent Romera-Garia. Eric thanked Dr Brian Hamilton, Dr Jean-Phillipe and Dr Neo Jimenez for their help and assistance over the past 3.5 years, Eric's defence was on-line and consisted of 3.5 hours of questions which he answered in full and in-depth. Well done Eric!

Hearing Testing at the Royal Academy of Music

 

At last we are back to work! Professor Stephen Dance for the 15th year is undertaking hearing screening for the Royal Academy of Music students. Tthis year due to circumstances new technology is being applied using Otoacoustic Emissions Test Kit from Path Medical and Hearing Coach. We hope this is the future of hearing screening! 

IOA Eastern Branch Presentation on the Quiet Project

 

On the 24th June 2021 the Institute of Acoustics Eastern Branch held a Zoominar on the Quiet Project. Professor Stephen Dance presented a comparison of the effect on environmental noise of the three UK Lockdowns on a rural location situated next to the A120 road. The future of the project was discussed along with the use for the available datasets. 

Emertius Professor Bridget Shield is Honoured

Bridget Shield, Emeritus Professor of Acoustics at LSBU has become an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for her “services to Acoustic Science and to inclusion in Science and Engineering.” The MBE recognises the influence Professor Shield has made through her research, in lobbying and work with government departments, particularly the Department for Education, in writing and maintaining building regulations and guidance concerning the acoustic design of schools. Well done Bridget!

New Full-Time Permanant Academic Wanted

 

A new position has opened up at the Acoustics Group. We are expanding our teaching and research team. We are looking for an Acoustics and Building Services Lecturer who understands UK regulations. Applicants should apply by 18 July 2021 here. Good luck!

Eric Ballestero submits his PhD thesis on Acoustic Metamaterials

On the 14th June 2021 PhD candidate Eric Ballestero submitted his doctoral thesis. He will defend his research entitled, "Overhauling soudn diffusion in auditoria using deep subwavelength acoustic metamaterials" on 16th July 2021. Well done Eric for such a well rounded submission.

Acoustics in Focus Conference: Pandemic Noise Reduction Session presentation

On the 8th June 2021 Professor Stephen Dance presented at the Acoustical Society of America- Acoustics in Focus special session on the Pandemic Noise Reduction, The on-line conference presentation was pre-recorded followed by a short discussion opportunity (on another platform) with the session ending in a 15 minute discussion (on yet another platform) on the impact of COVID and how a special issue of JASA could be collated. Many thanks go to Kirill and Abigail for hosting the event.   

PhD Candidate Eric Ballestero presents to Institute of Acoustics Zoominar

 

On the 26th May 2021 PhD Candidate Eric Ballestero presented his entire research project to the Institute of Acoustic Musical Acoustics Group. In one hour Eric covered room acoustics, diffuser design, loudness, perception, metamaterials and computer simulation. Multiple questions were asked on a range of subjects including ambisonics, material science, and diffuser performance. The 42 attendees provided great feedback and interest in the subject. Well done Eric!

CIBSE Research funding granted to ongoing Acoustics Research Group PhD project

 

The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has recently approved research funding to support a PhD research programe being undertaken at the Acoustics Group. The research aims to characterise the acoustics properties of alternative residential ventilation ducts. The application written by PhD student Suzana Zekic and PhD Director of Studies Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina requested financial support to facilitate innovation in the research methods,  ensure quality and wide applicability of outcomes.Congratulations to both!

Masters Student Awarded Chevening Scholarship

The Cheveningscholarship is a fully funded international scholarship for Master’s courses in the UK. This means it covers tuition fees, living expenses, moving expenses, travel expenses, and visa fees to the country. The process is completed in three parts, deadline in November of each year.  They need to write four texts in which they are giving their views, and show their skills on, leadership (because Chevening’s main aim is to give opportunities to future young leaders), networking, their desire to study in the UK and a future career plan. Apart from that they need to have a total of two-year working experience, that can either be paid, unpaid, volunteering, internship, or self-employed, and relates to the subject they desire to study. They also must have two people as references (the best is an academic and an employer). The selection process is by interview which is an extended discussion about the topics referred to the application. When an applicant is successful in an interview, they are given a scholarship. For the Masters in Environmental and Architectural Acoustics 2020-2021 Stavros Tagios was one successful applicant.  

Acoustics Students Finish Year with a Party

On the 14th May 2021, after a difficult year the Masters students got together for the last day of term. PhD students Doug Shearer and Eric Ballestero greeted the students at our local pub to discuss the year and to thank them for their patience and perseverance with the technology that had to be employed to deliver the course. We wish them luck with their project work over the summer! 
 

Ventilation Test Rig Arrives at the Acoustics Lab

 

A ventilation test rig designed to measure the acoustic characteristics of alternative ducts has arrived at the Acoustics Lab. It has been kindly supplied by Imtech, the main partner and the sponsor company  of an industry collaborative PhD research with LSBU. The rig will become the test bed for the development of innovative test procedures and the production of novel acoustic data for plastic and polyurethane ventilation ducts. PhD candidate Suzana Zeikic and PhD Director of Studies  Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina inspected the rig and were very satisfied with the quality of components and final assembly.

Blended Learning Technology under Test

 

Blended learning technology is being trailed by the Acoustics Group of London South Bank University. For the video we will be testing the AI powered Anker Conf300 webcam on a microphone stand connected to a laptop using a 10m USB2 booster cable. For the sound a wireless radio microphone will be used to pick up the audio stream. By combining these two system with Microsoft Teams it should be possible to have an in class experience anywhere in the world with a high speed internet connection. The AI camera tracking the lecturer as they give their lecture - it won't help with the quality of the handwriting though!
 

LSBU resumes IOA Certificate of Competence

 

On the 4th May 2021 the IOA Certificate of Competence in Environmental Noise Measurements (CCENM) resumed after a one year suspension caused by the COVID19 Pandemic outbreak. This is the seventh year the course has run. Course director Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina introduced the course to eleven highly motivated candidates attending the first online session.  This year and for the first time the course will be delivered in blended mode. This involves delivering all theoretical content online while hands-on exercises and the practical assessment will be in-person on-campus and outdoors following relevant COVID19 protective guidelines. We hope the candidates enjoy the course in this novel form.  

An update on the Quiet Project

On the 21st April 2021 the Institute of Acoustics hosted a webinar to provide an update on the Quiet Project with 87 attendees. Prof Stephen Dance and Lindsay McIntyre of KSG Acoustics presented the background to this COVID19 inspired community response to lockdown. Results were presented comparing the environmental noise under the three lockdowns, The survey will be repeated over May/June 2021. Our kind thanks goes to Doug Shearer for being the chair for the meeting.  

International PhD Scholarship in Architectural Acoustics and Robotics

The School of the Built Environment and Architecture are offering a fully funded international PhD scholarship- open to UK, EI or International Students. The Acoustics Group and the Robotic Lab are offering a PhD scholarship on additive manufacturing and architectural acoustics.The closing date is 12th May 2021 here's the link.

Zoominar: Quiet Project Update and Plans for the Future

 On the 21st April 2021 Professor Stephen Dance will address the Institute of Acoustics and the Association of Noise Consultants membership on the progress of the Quiet Project. The update will provide information on the work thus far and the plans for the work in  the coming spring. It is hoped that an annual nationwide noise survey will be a fitting reminder of the effect of the pandemic.