Nebraska Acoustics Group (NAG)

At the 3/13/17 NAG meeting, Stephanie Ahrens reviewed the work she’s completed on worship space acoustics based upon the recent ASA publication, co-edited by Dr. Erica Ryherd and two other NAG alums.  Stephanie’s work has been funded by a UNL Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experience grant.  The acoustic nugget discussed how global warming is changing how the ocean carries sound.  At our 4-17-17 NAG meeting, Anna Catton presented the entry that she and Brenna Boyd are working on for this year’s ASA Student Design Competition, to be judged at the upcoming Acoustics ’17 conference.  There were two recent in-the-news ‘acoustic nuggets’ presented, one on how it’s possible to hack a phone with sound waves, and the other on how even less expensive cars are now trying to work on reducing in-car noise.  (Dr. Wang has admitted bring sound level meters with her when shopping for vehicles!)

At our first NAG meeting of the spring semester, Dr. Wang reviewed various professional development opportunities in acoustics, such as becoming INCE Board Certified or getting a Professional Engineering license in acoustics.  The acoustic nugget was on the new Elbphilharmonic concert hall, which used parametric design principles – it is visually stunning!  At our 2-13-17 NAG meeting, Anna Catton reviewed recent acoustics investigations using 3D audio test facilities, which she studied for her fall 2017 independent study project.  The acoustic nugget featured news on there being a biological reason for misophonia (a disorder in which people hate sounds such as other people eating/chewing)!