From the President of I-INCE (Jun 2019)

By the time this issue of NNI is published, over 1,000 people involved with wide-ranging aspects of noise control engineering will be meeting in Madrid for the INTER-NOISE 2019 conference from June 16 to 19, 2019. Antonio Perez-Lopez and his enthusiastic local organizing committee from the Spanish and Portuguese acoustical societies have done a wonderful job encouraging international participation to create an extensive technical program. This event also provides the opportunity to celebrate the 50th anniversary for the Spanish Acoustical Society (SEA). So the program includes opportunities to enjoy many social events experiencing the local culture and cuisine.

At this time, the INTER-NOISE 2020 team is preparing to welcome noise control engineers to Seoul, Korea, from August 23 to 26, 2020. The first announcements about this event will be during the closing ceremony for INTER-NOISE 2019. As well as the congress, this meeting will be an opportunity for the I-INCE contribution to activities for the International Year of Sound 2020 (IYS 2020). The ICA in conjunction with La Semaine du Son is encouraging all those involved with any aspects of acoustics to hold outreach or other types of events to highlight the importance of sound in our world. The opening for IYS 2020 will be held on January 31, 2020, in the magnificent Grand Amphithéâtre at Sorbonne University in Paris. Go to http://www.sound2020.org to list any events and to keep watch for more information.

At the INTER-NOISE 2018 in Chicago, a memorial session was held to remember the achievements of Bill Lang, one of the main founders of the I-INCE. A booklet comprising the presentations plus historical and current photographs has been produced. The booklet is titled Honoring a Global Pillar of Noise Control Engineering William W. Lang and is the result of the efforts of Bob Berhard, Bob Hellweg, George Maling, and Eric W. Wood, with Tamar Nordenberg as rapporteur and with the support of the INCE Foundation. This booklet provides a fitting archive of the many achievements of Bill Lang and also provides an insight into the personal characteristics that contributed to his ability to achieve. The booklet will be available both from the INCE-USA and the I-INCE websites.

Features available in web browsers have made it easy to “grab”/“snip” images, and we can all be tempted to use these to enhance reports, conference papers, and so on. However, there is an obligation to check if the images are copyrighted and be aware of the requirements associated with the use of such material. A warning about the implications of inappropriate use comes from one of the I-INCE member societies. That society has paid a number of fines, each of the order of €1,000, for use of photos and images on their website. These breaches of copyright material have been found by organizations using automatic scanner software. This has led the society involved to undertake a full risk analysis of material on their website. The risk from the use of copyrighted material within conference papers in proceedings that are open access from their website was highlighted. Steps can be taken regarding any use of copyright material in future proceedings. To check back on all the content in all the proceedings currently available from that website would be a mammoth task. To avoid automatic scanners finding any such material within that content, the society has implemented a barrier to direct (and hence automatic) access by requiring that the user seek a free password before being allowed access to the proceedings. There are other options such as the “I am not a robot” software requiring the user to type in content from a fuzzy image. So while it is tempting to enhance the appearance of website materials with graphics, this is a warning for societies and organizations to check content that they have uploaded on their websites and to implement some form of barrier for access to any additional content.

In closing, I look forward to meeting many of you during INTER-NOISE Madrid and remind you that this is also the time of the General Assembly, when all member societies and organizations are encouraged to participate and provide guidance to the I-INCE Board in future activities.

Marion Burgess
President, I-INCE