Asia-Pacific News (Mar 2017)

Australia and New Zealand

The second joint Acoustical Society of New Zealand and Australian Acoustical Society conference, “Acoustics 2016,” was held in November 2016 in Brisbane, Queensland. Aside from the pleasant venue and convenient, picturesque location, it was a lively atmosphere of over 70 technical exhibitors and was particularly well attended with participants from both countries. Five parallel sessions were held over the three days, covering topics including architectural acoustics, environmental noise and vibration, marine bioacoustics, acoustical practice and analysis, and aeroacoustics. As usual with conferences in our region, the bringing together of acousticians, many of whom have travelled great distances, it is not only the technical discussions but the social aspects that are important to the success of the conference. The 2016 joint conference provided well for this with an opening and closing reception, plus a most enjoyable conference dinner on the Thursday evening, with comical and insightful speeches and award presentations.

This conference set a high standard and there is already some planning for the next joint event. However, for 2017, the national Australian Acoustical Society Conference will be held November 19–22 in Perth, Western Australia.

Korea

The Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering (KSNVE)

Spring/Autumn 2016 Conferences

Over 1,000 researchers attended the spring/autumn 2016 conferences organized by the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering (KSNVE). Over 450 papers were presented, and 60 exhibition booths were installed during the meetings. Spring conference 2016 was held on April 20–23, 2016, at The-K Hotel Gyeong Ju, Korea. Main contents were: Invited Special Lecture, Reception Lecture, Liberal Lecture, Award Lecture, 238 papers, and 33 exhibition booths. Autumn conference 2016 was held on October 19–22, 2016, at Welli Hilli Park, Korea. Main contents were: Invited Special Lecture, Award Lecture, Mutual Session with Acoustical Society of Korea, Industrial Session, Liberal Lecture, about 230 papers, and 28 exhibition booths.

Figure 1. Spring Conference 2016

Figure 1. Spring Conference 2016

New Officers and the Executive Council of 2017

The 15th president, Semyung Wang (GIST), along with senior vice president Heung Sik Kim (Honam University) and 30 members of the executive council were inaugurated for the January 2017–December 2017 term. [http://www.ksnve.or.kr]

Figure 2. New officers and the executive council of 2017

Figure 2. New officers and the executive council of 2017

Japan

  1. The 2017 research meetings of the Acoustical Society of Japan (ASJ): The spring meeting will be held on March 15–17 at Meiji University, Kawasaki, with four structured sessions (see the 2016 December issue of NNI). It is reported that there are 583 papers including 275 poster presentations and 58 papers submitted for the four special sessions. The autumn meeting will be held on September 25–27 at Ehime University, Matsuyama. It is planned that ASJ and ASK (the Acoustical Society of Korea) will hold a joint special session as a one-room/one-day (or a half-day) session consisting of invited lectures from several research fields (e.g., noise, architectural acoustics, and speech).
  2. The 2017 spring research meeting of the INCE/J: The spring research meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 21, at Chiba Institute of Technology, Chiba. The meeting is planned to consist of three structured sessions: (1) Recent topics and case studies on the measurement of noise emitted from various facilities and equipment, (2) Structuring of issues on acoustical environment: towards the formulation of guidelines for better sound environment planning, and (3) Aiming for the extension of INCE/J Method of Calculating Road Traffic Vibration “RTV-MODEL-2003.”
  3. INCE/J will hold a technical lecture meeting of “Involvement of Nurseries in Noise Problems—Creating an Acoustical Environment Necessary for Children to Grow Up,” to celebrate the 40th anniversary of INCE/J foundation on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, at CHUO University, Tokyo. Recently, concern about noise accompanying usual activities at nursery facilities has emerged; establishing a kindergarten was reported canceled. There are several lectures providing the latest information on how to deal with the issue from the viewpoint of noise control, which is followed by a panel discussion.
  4. INCE/J subcommittee for information exchange among local government members held a workshop “Engagement of Local Government in Noise Control—Airport and Aircraft Noise” on Monday, February 20, 2017, at CHUO University, Tokyo, with an audience of about 70 participants. There were six invited lectures talking about the role of the airport toward regional development and tourism, noise measures and land use control, noise measures at the source, air traffic control for noise impact mitigation, practices for noise mitigation by a local city government, and basics on noise, which was followed by a panel discussion.
  5. Recent editions of the INCE/J Journal: The INCE/J Journal published last December (Vol. 40, No. 6) was a special issue on “Social Concern for the Acoustical Environment Accompanying the Enforcement of a Law for Solving the Discrimination Against Disabled,” whereas the journal published this February (Vol. 41, No. 1) featured “Practical Use of Numerical Calculation Methods in Architectural Acoustics and Outdoor Environmental Noise.”
  6. The Smart Sound Design Society will hold a 4th SSDS Symposium “Branding Business by Applying Sound Design Technology” on Friday, March 3, 2017, at CHUO University, Tokyo (http://ssds.or.jp/seminar005). There will be four invited lectures: (1) Sound design by a Chinese consumer electronics company Vatti, (2) Present status of examining sound trademarks at the Patent Office, (3) Value creation of sound environment in offices etc., and (4) Effective utilization of acoustic effect in video works, which follows a panel discussion “Crosstalk on Branding Approach of Sound.” Ease of listening to voice information is important not only for the elderly and hearing impaired, but also for healthy people to maintain and improve the quality of life as well as to secure the safety in case of evacuation guidance. SSDS plans to improve it by considering three factors of voice information, sound transmission, and sound reproduction environment in cooperation with various institutions.

(News sources) Australia and New Zealand: Marion Burgess and Truda King; KOREA: Yeon-June Kang (KSNVE Secretariat); and JAPAN: Ichiro Yamada, Takeshi TOI, and secretary offices of ASJ & INCE/J.