NAG Meetings 1-27-14 and 2-10-14

Posted on March 31, 2014 by NAGadmin

This semester is flying by!  Our first two NAG meetings of the semester went well – we recounted activities and favorite presentations from the ASA San Francisco meeting and shared a number of acoustic nuggets, including new videos on sound levitating objects and how owl wings can inform noise-canceling technologies.  Matthew Blevins presented an update on the research he’s conducting on metamaterials, and we made plans to host Dr. Michelle Vigeant’s research group from Penn State Acoustics on 2/14/14 – they’re making measurements of our local Holland Performing Arts Center Kiewit Concert Hall, as part of Dr. Vigeant’s NSF CAREER Award!

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Happy New Year 2014!

Posted on January 12, 2014 by NAGadmin

Happy New Year to all of our friends!  We’ve finished uploading many new photos to our Picasa webpage, from the ASA San Francisco conference as well as our annual NAG Winter Party.  Here are two of our favorites from the ASA conference – Kristin Hanna with her winning poster from the ASA Undergraduate Research Poster Session, and a snapshot of NAG Game Night!  We’re excited about the New Year 2014, particularly as we’ll be welcoming a new acoustics professor in the fall!  The search is on, and we’ll keep everyone posted.

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NAG Meeting 11-20-13

Posted on November 30, 2013 by NAGadmin

This was our last NAG meeting of the 2013 calendar year … we shared two acoustic nuggets: (1) one on how it may be possible to regenerate auditory hair cells after all, shared by Andrew Hathaway (who has recently started a position with Acoustical Design Collaborative in Baltimore, MD); and (2) a website where you can compare assorted headphone frequency responses, shared by Devin Wong.  Many members of the Nebraska Acoustics Group are planning to attend the upcoming ASA conference in San Francisco. One of those is Kristin Hanna, who presented at this NAG meeting on her undergraduate research on how the directional characteristics of musical instruments vary, as calculated from a Mozart symphony.  Kristin will be presenting this same work at the ASA Undergraduate Research Poster Session on Wed. 12/4!  In total, NAG members will be making eight presentations at the conference next week.  Also, Dr. Wang is planning to host a NAG Karaoke night on Tues. 12/3, starting at 9:30 PM at Pandora Karaoke (close to the conference hotel in Union Square) … our acoustic friends are all invited to join us for a fun-filled evening of song!!  We are looking forward to seeing many of you soon…

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NAG Meeting 11-06-13

Posted on November 30, 2013 by NAGadmin

At this NAG meeting, Hyun Hong presented on how reflection density plays a role in room impulse responses.  Also, we looked forward to a number of UNASA (University of Nebraska ASA Student Chapter) activities, including welcoming alum Dr. Jonathan Rathsam on Friday, 11/8 to discuss the recent work he’s been involved with at NASA on low-boom supersonic aircraft.  The UNASA student group is also planning on making impulse response measurements in the Mammel Hall atrium on the UNO campus, as part of an initiative to acoustically characterize local spaces.  As for the nugget of the week, we discussed recent news about how acoustics could be used in remote detection of potentially explosive devices.  The semester is passing quickly … only one more formal NAG meeting before the end of the year!

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NAG meeting 10-16-13

Posted on October 31, 2013 by NAGadmin

At this meeting, we recounted the numerous times that acoustics was mentioned at the recent ‘Building the 22nd Century’ Conference, hosted by the UNL College of Engineering in Omaha, NE.  Many of us particularly enjoyed Ray Kurzweil’s keynote lecture from the conference.  Also, we were interested to learn that a NEW stadium noise record had been set by the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead stadium … a clear shot of the Larson Davis sound level meter is shown in the article, indicating again that the noise level being widely reported in the news was a dBA PEAK reading (and widely misinterpreted as being as loud as a jet engine!!)  The featured student presenter this week was Devin Wong, discussing the MS research he’s conducting on the impact of high performance school buildings in California on student achievement.  Is there a significant correlations between building high performance schools and improved student achievement?  Stay tuned to our research group to find out… !

Target Toy Aisle

 

AE 3300 undergraduates continue to do a great job, tweeting about the importance of building acoustics in their every day life experiences … this tweet in particular made my day!!

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Open UNL Faculty Position in Acoustics

Posted on October 31, 2013 by NAGadmin

The Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (http://www.durhamschool.unl.edu) invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Architectural Engineering.

Applicants are expected to have a Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering, Acoustics, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field. The successful candidate will have a background in architectural acoustics and/or noise control and is expected to develop an externally funded research program in their area of expertise. The successful candidate will contribute to the undergraduate and graduate academic programs within the School and demonstrate a commitment to excellence in both teaching and research. Opportunities for collaborations across the University of Nebraska include the Peter Kiewit Institute, the Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences, Innovation Campus, and other state- and federally-funded research centers and programs.

Applications must be submitted via http://employment.unl.edu (requisition #F_130198). Complete applications will include a cover letter, CV, research and teaching statements (a maximum of 4 pages), and a list of three references. Review of application materials will begin December 15, 2013 and continue until position is filled.

The University of Nebraska has an active National Science Foundation ADVANCE gender equity program, and is committed to a pluralistic campus community through affirmative action, equal opportunity, work-life balance, and dual careers.

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NAG meeting 10-02-13

Posted on October 31, 2013 by NAGadmin

We hosted a special visitor for this NAG meeting: Prof. Hui Xie, from Chongqing University, who presented on some of the recent research he’s been involved with, including hospital acoustics.  Prof. Xie was visiting UNL with a group of his colleagues to build on existing collaborations they already have with the UNL College of Architecture, meeting with our faculty and students in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction within the College of Engineering.  It was very exciting to hear about some of the research the faculty at Chongqing University are doing, with regards to development of urban-rural areas in fast developing areas of China.  The ‘acoustic nugget’ of the week was viewing Dr. Smaldino’s online introduction to classroom acoustics – everyone should watch it!

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NAG meeting 09-18-13

Posted on October 31, 2013 by NAGadmin

Time to catch up!  At this NAG meeting, Ellen Peng and Joonhee Lee presented on recent measurements made in our ‘new’ acoustic test lab, room 131 in the Peter Kiewit Institute, using the B&K Pulse system.  We also discussed two recent acoustic news items: (1) the Seattle Seahawks fans at CenturyLink Stadium in Seattle, breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for loudest stadium (136.6 dBA … which we learned from our friends at SSA Acoustics (who took the measurement) was a dBA PEAK reading, taken at a distance of 2.5 m from the riled-up crowd – soooo, not as dangerous on one’s ears as might be imagined); and (2) a transparent gel-based loudspeaker, using ionic conductors… check out this video!

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NAG meeting 09-04-13

Posted on September 4, 2013 by NAGadmin

Our first NAG meeting of the 2013-14 academic year!  It was great to welcome back all of our returning students, many of whom had great summer acoustic experiences: Montreal ICA, Toronto ISRA, Denver ASHRAE, and consulting internships with Veneklasen Associates, Henderson Engineers, and other companies.  At each NAG meeting, we share some recent item in the news on acoustics, as an ‘Acoustic Nugget’… this meeting’s nugget featured research on how sound waves can not only levitate but now also MOVE objects.  Check out the article with video republished in Scientific American (and thanks to Carl Hart for sharing this with us)!  Also, check out the tweets on how acoustics impacts their real world from this fall’s AE 3300 “Building Acoustic Fundamentals” class, with hashtag #AE3300.  These students are off to a great start…

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Noise-Con 2013

Posted on September 4, 2013 by NAGadmin

Although only one current NAG member (Ellen Peng) attended Noise-Con 2013 in Denver, there were a number of alumni present, as shown in this photo below.  By all accounts, it was a good conference!  Ellen was recognized at the Noise-Con plenary session as the recipient of the 2013 Martin Hirschorn IAC Prize, as well as a 2013 Leo Beranek Medalist.

Jonathan Rathsam, David Manley, Alicia Larsen, Ellen Peng, and James Cottrell (NAG members past and present!) at Noise-Con 2013

Jonathan Rathsam, David Manley, Alicia Larsen, Ellen Peng, and James Cottrell (NAG members past and present!) at Noise-Con 2013

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