President’s Column I-INCE (Dec 2017)

From the President of I-INCE

With my first editorial as president of the International Institute of Noise Control Engineering (I-INCE), I must commence with thanks to Joachim Scheuren, who achieved much during his 4-year term as president. Most importantly he took the necessary steps for I-INCE to officially exist and to open a second bank account to provide for longer term security of our funds. We are sincerely thankful to the Swiss Acoustical Society for agreeing that I-INCE can be officially located at their address. Another achievement has been the review of the Rules and of the Bylaws under which I-INCE operates, and we are grateful to Dave Holger and his committee for working through these documents and proposing revisions that are internally consistent and in keeping with our current way of operation.

Noise News International (NNI) is intended to be an important means of communication for the international noise control engineering community as a joint undertaking by I-INCE and INCE-USA. During recent years, we have formalized the Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations. The previous managing editor, Jim Thompson, brought NNI to a web-based format with an accompanying PDF issue. We look forward to future initiatives from the new managing editor, Eoin King, as he leads future developments to utilize modern technology and to increase the relevance of NNI for all involved with noise control.

I-INCE recognizes the importance of engaging the younger community. Support for young professionals to attend an INTER-NOISE conference is an important role for I-INCE and we are very grateful to Raj Sing, VP Technical Activities, for his careful attention to this task over a number of years. He has also organized the Young Professionals Workshop during each INTER-NOISE. At Flinvoovia II, I-INCE symposium and the INTER-NOISE 2017 in Hong Kong, the first two I-INCE lectures were presented. These lectures have been recorded and will be made freely available via the web. It is intended that each INTER-NOISE will have at least one defined I-INCE lecture that will be recorded. A further initiative is the introduction of a “Practice School” for young noise control engineers. The first will be held the morning before the opening of INTER-NOISE 2018. The term for Raj has come to an end, but we are pleased that he agreed to stay on the board as distinguished board member to assist Patricia Davies as she takes over the role as VP Technical Activities.

This leads me to the major activity for I-INCE, which is the annual INTER-NOISE congress. The Hong Kong Institute of Acoustics and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, in conjunction with the NVH branch of the Society of Automotive Engineering China and the Acoustical Society of China, were the hosts for INTER-NOISE 2017. This was a well-organized event in respect to both the technical and the social aspects of a congress. The 2018 congress return to the Pan-American region and will be hosted by INCE-USA in Chicago in August. During this congress there will be a special memorial session for Bill Lang, who passed away in late 2016. Bill was one of the founding fathers of I-INCE and we owe a great debt to him for his role in setting up and guiding this organization over the decades. The memorial session will attempt to cover some of his works and convey his passion for the control of noise for a better world for all.

Marion Burgess
President, I-INCE