NOISE-CON 2017 Report

NOISE-CON 2017, the 2017 National Conference and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering, was held on June 12–14, 2016, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. One hundred sixty-five (165) technical presentations were given at the conference. The one hundred forty-seven (147) papers along with other information about the conference were distributed to the 244 attendees on a thumb drive. It must be noted that this attendance does not include the exhibitors since they were administered by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers). If the exhibitors were added in, the total attendance would be approximately 350. Jim Thompson served as General Chair; Hether Fedullo served as Vice Chair; and Gordon Ebbitt, Steve Sorenson, and Yong-Joe Kim served as Co-Technical Chairs. Gordon Ebbitt served as the Proceedings Editor. Dana Lodico served as the Student Activities Chair.

This was a unique NOISE-CON in that it was co-located with the 2017 SAE Noise and Vibration Conference and Exhibition. The goal of this co-location was to provide the opportunity for attendees of these conferences to see both wider and more specialized applications of noise control engineering. With an attendance of 1,103, the SAE conference made for a significantly larger combined conference. The SAE conference focused on the mobility industry with 149 papers on automotive, truck, aerospace, and off-highway noise control. The exhibition was administered by SAE with 119 exhibitors.

In discussions with attendees during the conference and a discussion with SAE International after the conference, there was universal agreement that the co-location of these conferences was a great success. Also, all those consulted asked that this be done again as a service of high value to attendees and both SAE and INCE-USA members. SAE suggested that they would be pleased to have this co-location every four years, the SAE conference is held every other year.

An important feature of this co-located conference was the organization of two special technical session groups. A set of joint sessions was organized with both SAE and INCE-USA participation to bring together outstanding complementary papers from both organizations on topics of interest to both sets of attendees. In addition, these sessions were open for attendees from both conferences. The topics of these joint sessions are listed below.

1. Lightweight Vehicle Construction Acoustic Design
2. Artificially Generated Noise in Vehicle Interiors and Sound Quality Considerations
3. Product Development Methods: Cross-Disciplinary Tools and Processes for Delivering NVH Attributes
4. Aerodynamic Noise Prediction and Validation
5. Hybrid/Electric and Electric Vehicles—Consequences of Minimum Sound Regulatory Requirements
6. Aircraft Interior Noise

These sessions were highly successful with good attendance and participation.

The second special grouping of sessions was the group of automotive sessions in the NOISE-CON program. Perhaps due to the location of this conference, within two hours of Detroit, and the co-location with the SAE conference there was a particularly large number of automotive-related papers submitted. These automotive sessions, although organized by INCE-USA, were open to SAE attendees as well. There were four such sessions that were again quite successful in terms of participation and attendance.

In addition to the presentations of the technical papers at the conference, there was a special session honoring the life and achievements of Leo Beranek (see Figure 1). The sessions organized by George Maling and Eric Wood was both informative and thought provoking. The unique nature of Leo and his contributions were outlined by a series of outstanding presentations. The session was well attended and provided an outstanding memorial to Leo and his leaderships in the development of INCE and the field of noise control engineering.

Figure 1 Leo Beranek Session Poster

There were also four short courses offered to those who attended the conference:

• INCE Fundamentals Exam Prep Course
• Acoustic Design of Mufflers, taught by Tamer Elnady, Ph.D., Professor of Engineering at Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, and Daniel J. Kato, an acoustical consultant in San Jose, California
• Practical Aspects of Acoustical Enclosure Design, taught by David Herrin, Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky, and Daniel J. Kato, an acoustical consultant in San Jose, California
• Sound Intensity Measurements for Noise Control, taught by Steven Jorro, E-A-R Thermal Acoustic Systems

As has been done in recent NOISE-CON conferences, an app was used to provide attendees with a detailed schedule, session information, maps, and timely updates on events and issues. This app was developed by SAE International, but covered both conferences so that all attendees could see the many sessions going on simultaneously.

Monday, June 11, 2017

The opening events for the conference were held on Monday, June 11. At this early morning session, Jim Thompson welcomed everyone to NOISE-CON 2017 and recognized the organizational team who had put together the conference. Rick Kolano, INCE-USA President, thanked Jim and the team and provided and overview of INCE-USA and encouraged members to participate in the Institute and contribute to the noise control engineering profession. The opening plenary presentation was provided by James Barnes of Accentech, Inc. (see Figure 2). James was honored in 2016 with the INCE/NCAC Laymon N. Miller Award for Excellence in Acoustical Consulting. His presentation “Career Lessons Learned from Laymon Miller and Others” was an interesting review of his career and the important lessons he had learned from his mentors.

Figure 2 James Barnes Opening Plenary

The technical sessions began right after the plenary session with six parallel sessions. The SAE conference did not begin until Monday afternoon with workshops. The official opening of the SAE Noise and Vibration Conference was on Tuesday morning. As noted above, the Leo Beranek Memorial Session was held on Monday afternoon.

The exposition opening reception was held Monday evening. This was a joint reception with both SAE conference and NOISE-CON attendees. The attendance was quite large with the 1,103 SAE conference attendees added. With 119 exhibitors there was much for the attendees to see in touring the exhibit space. The exhibit area was large and with an excellent arrangement. There was good traffic and little congestion to impede people’s ability to visit the displays.

Tuesday, June 12, 2017

The Women in Noise Control Engineering Breakfast was held on Tuesday morning. Despite the early hour there was a good turnout with roughly 40 attendees. This event was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company and Scantek, Inc., and hosted by Patricia Davies. This meeting provided a forum for women in the field to share their experiences with each other and talk about ways to increase the number of women participating in noise control engineering. This was an excellent opportunity for networking and an exchange of information about careers in the field and future opportunities.

The sessions began with the opening session for the SAE Noise and Vibration Conference. Both NOISE-CON and SAE attendees were invited. The two conference chairs, Chad Musser for the SAE Conference and Jim Thompson for NOISE-CON, gave brief opening remarks (see Figures 3 and 4). Following this, Ahmet Selamet was named the 2017 SAE Ralph Hillquist Lifetime Achievement Award winner by Jim Thompson. Dr. Selamet has had a distinguished career at Ohio State University and has an outstanding record of research and teaching in automotive related noise control. Ahmet provided an excellent keynote talk, “Flow Instabilities and Sound: From Turbochargers to Wind Instruments.” This was an outstanding presentation with video illustration of compressor stall (see Figure 5).

Figure 3 Chad Musser, SAE Conference Chair

Figure 4 Jim Thompson, NOISE-CON 2017 Chair

Figure 5 Rich DeJong Delivering Wednesday Plenary

Following this plenary, there was a full slate of technical sessions underway for both conferences and the exhibitions opened immediately after the opening session.

At noon there was a combined SAE and NOISE-CON Speed Mentoring Session for Young Professionals. This event provided and opportunity for small groups (from 1 to 3 individuals) to sit with professionals in noise control to briefly discuss whatever topics they wished. There was a good turnout for this activity and all who participated indicated it was both rewarding and successful.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

The first event Wednesday morning was the student breakfast sponsored by the National Council of Acoustical Consultants (NCAC). This event was well attended despite the early hour for students. This provided an excellent opportunity for students to talk with noise control professionals and discuss their career options.

The sessions began with Gordon Ebbitt introducing the plenary lecture by Dr. Rich DeJong of Calvin College (see Figure 6). Dr. DeJong’s presentation “Measuring and Modeling Wind Noise” was an excellent discussion of this difficult topic and the contributions from the turbulent boundary layer and vortex shedding to vehicle interior noise. He provided an overview of the various contributions and made a difficult topic much easier to comprehend.

Figure 6 Wednesday’s Plenary Speaker Dr. James F. Miller

This presentation was followed by the INCE-USA awards ceremony with the ceremony conducted by Yong-Joe Kim and Jeff Fullerton (see Figures 7 and 8). At this ceremony, several student and professional awards were given. These included three travel awards, two presentation awards, and recognition of the 2017 Beranek Medalists. All funding for these awards was provided by the INCE Foundation, including some funds from directed donations.

Figure 7 Yong-Joe Kim Introducing Award Winners

Figure 8 Jeff Fullerton Introducing Award Winners

Professional Awards

• Martin Hirschorn IAC Award—Best Paper Prize

This prize is funded by the INCE Foundation to recognize the best published paper within the preceding two years on new and/or improved cost-effective noise control and/or acoustical conditioning products.

The winning entry for this award was Characterization of Sound Power Level Spectra Produced by HVAC Chillers with Double Helical Rotary Screw Compressors under Various Operating Conditions. The author is Dan Hemme, The University of Texas at Austin.

Student Awards

Student Paper Competition—2017 Winners

Five awards were selected among 12 entries based on the peer reviews of papers and presentations. $1,000 was awarded to each winner, $500 for subsequent publication in NCEJ with the recognition as a Student Paper Competition winner. Funding was provided by INCE Foundation. 2017 was the 29th competition. The 2017 winners were:

1. Trinoy Dutta, Michigan Tech University, Performance of Hard Disk Drives in High Noise Environments
2. Weonchan Sung, Purdue University, Descriptors of Sound from HVAC&R Equipment
3. Micaela M. Thiery, Michigan Tech University, Use of CNT Thin-film Assemblies as Microphones through Hot-film Anemometry
4. Maxwell Toothman, Georgia Institute of Technology, Performance Evaluation of a Syntactic-Foam Water Hammer Arrestor
5. Nan Zhang, University of Kentucky, Notes on Scale Modeling of Acoustic Scattering Problems

Classic Papers in Noise Control Engineering Competition

In NOISE-CON 2017, among 8 applications, 1 winner was selected with a cash prize of $1,000. Funding was provided by INCE Foundation. 2017 was the 6th competition. The 2017 winner was:

Yutong Xue, Purdue University, Overview of J. B. Moreland’s 1976 Paper on: Controlling Industrial Noise by Means of Room Boundary Absorption

Leo Beranek Student Medal for Excellence in the Study of Noise Control

This award consists of an engraved medal and certificate of recognition to one undergraduate and one graduate student nominated by a North American institution. Funding provided by INCE Foundation. 2017 was the 7th year of the award. The 2017 winners (7 undergraduate and 5 graduate students) were:

1. Caleb B. Goates, Brigham Young University, Undergraduate (Bronze)
2. Stephania Vaglica, Michigan Tech University, Undergraduate (Bronze)
3. Weimin Thor, Purdue University, Undergraduate (Bronze)
4. Lauren Seibert, University of Cincinnati, Undergraduate (Bronze)
5. Anna Elefante, University of Hartford, Undergraduate (Bronze)
6. Lucas Shearer, University of Hartford, Undergraduate (Bronze)
7. Brenna Boyd, University of Nebraska, Lincoln (Bronze)
8. Blaine M. Harker, Brigham Young University, Graduate (Pewter)
9. Mahsa Asgarisabet, Michigan Tech University, Graduate (Pewter)
10. Rui Cao, Purdue University, Graduate (Pewter)
11. Gil Jun Lee, University of Cincinnati, Graduate (Pewter)
12. Kangping Ruan, University of Kentucky, Graduate (Pewter)

Undergraduate Student Project Award

This awards $1,000 to cover project costs of an undergraduate noise control study not normally covered by university sources. An awardee needs to provide a report to INCE on project completion. Funding provided by the INCE Foundation. The target is two awards per year. The 2017 winner was:

Weimin Thor, Purdue University

Michiko So Finegold Award

Larry Finegold made a generous donation to the INCE Foundation from the Michiko So Finegold Memorial Trust. It is open to graduate students and young professionals studying noise effects research, development of noise policy, and related aspects of noise control engineering. 2017 was the 5th year of the award. Five awardees were selected for NOISE-CON 2017. Each award was $1,000. The 2017 Michiko So Finegold Travel Award winners were:

1. Kangping Ruan, University of Kentucky, Graduate
2. Keyu Chen, University of Kentucky, Graduate
3. Seongil Hwang, Texas A&M University, Researcher
4. Jungdong Li, University of Kentucky, Graduate
5. Weonchan Sung, Purdue University, Graduate

Hallberg Foundation Award

Doug Winker made a generous donation to the INCE Foundation from the Elizabeth L. and Russell F. Hallberg Foundation. This travel award is open to undergraduate and graduate students attending and presenting at NOISE-CON or INTER-NOISE. Seven awardees were selected for NOISE-CON 2017. Each award was $860. The 2017 Hallberg Foundation Travel Award winners were:

1. Mahsa Asgarisabet, Michigan Tech University, Graduate
2. Miles Penhale, Michigan Tech University, Graduate
3. Micaela Thiery, Michigan Tech University, Graduate
4. Suraj Prabhu, Michigan Tech University, Graduate
5. Siddharth Parmar, Michigan Tech University, Graduate
6. Nan Zhang, University of Kentucky, Graduate
7. Mohammad Gholami, Sherbrooke University, Graduate

Following the awards presentation, Rick Kolano, INCE-USA president, thanked all the participants and noted what a successful conference this had been. The conference chair, Jim Thompson, thanked the conference-organizing team, the authors, the exhibitors, sponsors, and the team from SAE International for making this such a successful co-located conference. Chad Musser and Bryce Gardner, chairs of the 2019 NOISE-CON conference in San Diego, provided a brief overview of the upcoming conference and invited all to attend. Charles Moritz, chair of the 2018 INTER-NOISE conference, provided a comprehensive presentation on the plan for this conference in Chicago.

An important event held on Wednesday afternoon was the Young Professionals and Student Workshop. This was a two-hour block of time containing a meet and greet with INCE-USA directors and officers, SAE International Staff and Officers, presentations on a number of topics and open discussions, and one-on-one discussion opportunities. Steve Sorenson and Jim Thompson organized an outstanding session that was well attended and provided a great opportunity for young professionals to learn about INCE, get some guidance from seasoned professionals, and network with each other. The topics presented are shown below.

• Introduction of Officers and Committee Members, Dana Lodico, INCE-USA; and Melissa Jena, SAE International
• Presenting a Conference Paper, Stuart Bolton
• SAE Committees Presentation, Marc LeDuc
• INCE-USA Technical Committees, Gabriella Cerrato
• SAE Journals, Peijun Xu
• NCEJ Presentation, Jim Thompson
• Open Discussion, All

This event was followed by a technical tour of the Calvin College laboratories to see their test facilities and the student projects being carried out in noise control and other topics. This event was well received with good attendance.

The NOISE-CON conference ended at this point with both technical sessions and the exhibition closing down. However, the SAE Noise and Vibration conference carried on until noon on Thursday. On Thursday, SAE held a wrap-up meeting with their conference organizing committee. As chair of the NOISE-CON conference, Jim Thompson was asked to participate in this meeting. The SAE committee felt the co-located conference was an outstanding success and asked that INCE-USA plan to hold another such conference in the future. It was tentatively agreed to conduct another such co-located conference in 2023, the first date available in the INCE-USA schedule.