Prof Dance presents to the Hearing Conservation Association

On the 10th February 2021, the Hearing Conservation Association held its first Annual General Meeting on-line. Professor Stephen Dance presented on engagement and research activity currently planned for 2021. He covered the "Hear from Tomorrow" joint event now to be held in person on 6th October 2021 at the Royal Academy of Engineering. This UKAN sponsored event will be run in association with the Institute of Acoustics. He then went on to explain about the new UKAN+ grant which will address the Grand Challenge of an Aging Society and the funding opportunities available for pilot research, knowledge transfer and public engagement. We are planning an keeping society active and healthy! 
 

Teaching under a Pandemic- A New Approach

 

On the 8th February 2021 Professor Dance was invited by the Institute of Acoustics Early Career Group to represent the Acoustics Group in regards to teaching in a pandemic. Our Masters is very practical in nature, very popular with architects and audio engineers. The novel solution of filmed experiments, lab in a box to facilitate home experiments, live streaming and pre-recorded lectures has given the students a new experience. New software has been introduced including CATT-Acoustics for architectural acoustics, CADNA-A for environmental noise, ARTA for measurements, and MATLAB for signal processing/coding.  We are ready for whatever the future throws at us!

Article published on the effect on speech intelligibility of face masks

The January Acoustics Bulletin, published by the Institute of Acoustics, featured a study authored by Professor Peter Mapp into the acoustic and communication effects of face masks. The study carried out in Peter’s own electroacoustics laboratory during lock down, measured the sound transmission properties of over 20 facemasks and found some surprising effects. Clear masks and masks with clear panels, specifically designed to aid lip reading, essential for the deaf and hard of hearing, were ironically found to attenuate and distort speech the most.  Peter is now continuing the research and looking at both mechanical and electroacoustic methods of improving speech transmission and has received interest from several national hearing charities.

Testing a new IoT Environmental Noise Meter

 
Environmental Sensors Ltd have kindly offered a new Internet of Things based Convergent Instruments sound level meter for testing. The microphone which is based on MEMS technology make this environmental meter a much cheaper solution than traditional sound meters. Current tests show the meter calibrates well, has good frequency response (using 24 kHz sampling) and has a noise floor of 32 dBA.  More tests to come!

Abstract accepted for 27th ICSV July 2021

An abstract of a paper submitted to the 27^th International Congress on Sound and Vibration (ICSV) has been recently accepted by the conference reviewers’ panel. The paper abstract is entitled “The effect of inflation on room acoustic parameters obtained from balloon pop excitation”. It has been written by Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina and former LSBU MSc-Acoustics student Pedro Vazquez-Barrera. It is confirmed that the international congress will take place in-person or online between 11 and 15 July 2021. Luis and Pedro hope to see you at the conference and enjoy the paper
 

Dr Gomez-Agustina becomes external examiner for the MSc in Applied Acoustics at the University of Derby

Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina has become the external examiner of the Masters programme in Applied Acoustics at Derby University (UK). He has been personally known to the Acoustics team at Derby University from the courses re-accreditation carried out by the institute of Acoustics (IOA) in 2019 in which Luis was co-lead of the accreditation panel. On this appointment Luis mentioned that this is a good opportunity to learn from good practice implemented at other leading universities. He added that new role will help to strengthen the links between the two universities and stimulate future teaching, enterprise and research collaborations. Congratulations and best wishes for the future in this appointment!

IOA ECG webinar series - Further education in the time of a pandemic

The Institute of Acoustics Early Career Group has organised a webinar on Further Education in the time of a pandemic. Professor Stephen Dance has been invited to present on the response of London South Bank University to enhance the student experience by providing a "Lab in a Box". Representatives form all UK taught acoustics courses will be there. Here's the link to join on-line set for Monday 8th February 2021 at 5:30pm. Hope to see you there to discuss a potential new future in education.