From the Archives: We Catch Up with Dr. Eric E. Ungar
NNI enjoys a rich history and has existed, in some form, since the very beginnings of I-INCE. One predecessor to NNI was Noise/News, first issued in 1972 as a newsletter for the newly established INCE-USA. Later, in 1974, shortly after the founding of I-INCE, it was recognized that this organization also needed a means to communicate, and the International INCE Newsletter was started. Some 20 years after that, in 1992, it was decided that it would be of benefit to both I-INCE and INCE-USA to combine Noise/News and the International INCE Newsletter and launch a new publication: Noise/News International was born!
Drawing on this rich history, we have decided to feature, from time to time, an article that appeared in an earlier issue of NNI. In this issue there is also a tutorial on some lesser-known facts concerning vibration transmission and isolation, authored by Dr. Eric E. Ungar. By a happy coincidence, Dr. Ungar was featured in the very first issue of NNI in 1993. This original article has been reproduced here, and I also asked Dr. Ungar to write another article reflecting on what has changed since this first appeared all those years ago.
Eoin A. King, PhD
NNI Editor
People—Eric E. Ungar (as originally appeared in March 1993)
Dr. Eric E. Ungar Affiliates with Acentech
Acentech Incorporated has announced that Dr. Eric E. Ungar will work for the company in a part-time capacity as chief engineering scientist. He continues his primary employment as chief consulting engineer for Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc. (BBN), where he has worked since 1958. Dr. Ungar served as president of INCE-USA in 1985 and was a member of the INCE-USA Board of Directors from 1980 to 1982 and from 1985 to 1987.
At Acentech, Dr. Ungar will be responsible for bringing his technical expertise to bear on a wide variety of vibration and noise problems, particularly relating to buildings and industrial facilities and equipment. At BBN, he will continue to work on federally funded research and development programs and the solution of problems in the fields of marine systems and active vibration control.
Over the past two decades, Dr. Ungar has worked on several leading-edge projects concerned with facilities that accommodate highly vibration-sensitive equipment or that require high resistance to vibration-induced damage or malfunction.
With more than 40 years of engineering research and consulting experience in acoustical technology, Dr. Ungar has received numerous honors. He recently served as president of the Acoustical Society of America. Additional honors and professional society affiliations include Fellow, Acoustical Society of America; Life Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers; member and past president of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering; and Associate Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Dr. Ungar has written and contributed to numerous books, papers, and technical reports. His papers have appeared in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Sound and Vibration, and several ASME journals. A 1951 graduate of Washington University, Dr. Ungar received his MS at the University of New Mexico (1954) and his Eng. Sc.D. at New York University (1957). Acentech Incorporated, with offices in Cambridge, Mass., and Los Angeles, is a consulting firm specializing in noise and vibration control; industrial and environmental acoustics; architectural acoustics; and sound system, audiovisual, and video system design. Originally a subsidiary of BBN, senior management purchased a majority interest in the firm in 1991.
