An Unexpected Positive Encounter at INTER-NOISE 2024
By Jim Thompson
INTER-NOISE 2024 was an outstanding success with 1800 attendees and 1000 papers presented. This was the largest INTER-NOISE ever. However, one interaction meant more to me than all the others. I met a person with whom I had worked more than 20 years earlier.
I enjoyed attending INTER-NOISE 2024. There were a lot of people there I had not seen for a while and many outstanding papers. Having technical sessions through Thursday noon allowed me to see more papers presented and network with more people. The weather in Nantes was much better than expected and helped to make walking to and from the venue easy and enjoyable.
I attended outstanding sessions on electric vehicle noise, modeling room acoustics, and acoustics instruction. I had several good interactions with vendors discussing their products and services. I also got to talk with many people I only see at international meetings and many whom I don’t get to see often enough. Seeing the work in noise control was thought provoking and encouraging.
However, there was one interaction that topped everything else. My wife participated in the accompanying persons program and was asked by one of the other wives if she was related to me. Her husband, Dan, had worked with me more than 20 years ago and hoped we could talk. As it turned out, we bumped into each other in the lobby of our hotel.
It took some time to catch each other up on what had happened over the last decade and a half. At one point Dan mentioned that I was the reason he got interested in noise control. As a student he had worked with the same company as me, and we had worked together to use a laser doppler system to understand the vibration in a foundation brake system. While this was a successful project it was only one of many to me. At the time, I was responsible for both the noise and vibration consulting, testing, and production design and the sales and marketing department. Simply put, I was busy and switching between jobs often.
When Dan told me his work with me was the reason for his education path and career focusing on noise and vibration, I was more than a little surprised. I was shocked. Our short project of a few weeks could have such an impact. Dan has worked for multiple companies always in noise and vibration. In addition, he has a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and is currently finishing up his Ph D. It turns out Dan knows and has worked with many people I know. This was a complete surprise to me.
This encounter caused me to reflect on how we “senior” or “seasoned” professionals may be seen by others and especially younger people. Of course, some will say “OK boomer” and ignore us. However, many may wonder how we chose to work in noise control and see our success as a reason to consider the profession. While we should not constantly be thinking of ourselves as role models, there are certainly sometimes when we are. How we work and interact with those around us may change someone’s career path. In one case for me, that is exactly what happened. Maybe this is something we should all consider at least occasionally – who might I help to choose a career in noise control? Perhaps we should not ignore being a role model for what a noise control engineering career can be.
Back to my case, the fact that a few weeks of Dan and I working together had such an impact was a pleasant surprise. Meeting Dan and seeing how our work together had impacted his career and education was the most memorable experience of INTER-NOISE 2024 for me. It made me feel good about whatever I did so many years ago to have this impact.