NOISE-Con 2024 -Jazzing Up Noise Control

June saw a very successful NOISE-CON 2024, the annual conference organized and run by INCE-USA. For the first time, it was hosted in the city of New Orleans at the Hilton Riverside on the Mississippi River, a short distance from the historic French Quarter.

While organizing a conference of this magnitude requires the help and participation of many people, a special word of appreciation goes to the chief organizers: Gordon Ebbitt (General Chair),  Sarah Taubitz (Vice-General Chair), Paul Donovan and Steve Sorenson (Technical Co-Chairs), Patricia Davies (Technical Advisor), Rui Cao (Social Media Coordinator), Amulya Lomte (Student Coordinator), Janice Hendrick (Accompanying Persons), Erika Placeway (Conference Secretariate), and many more.

It was a jam-packed schedule spread over three days. In addition to the technical, networking, and social program at the conference itself, many other aspects made the conference memorable. Some highlights include:

Plenary Lectures
The conference hosted the following Plenary Lectures:

Acquired hearing loss: Are prevention or reversal realistic goals? presented by Dr. Colleen Le Prell
Dr. Le Prell presented how noise, drugs, and aging cause cell death in the inner ear and introduce the changes in sound-evoked physiological responses, threshold sensitivity, and deficits “beyond the audiogram” that can be measured in clinical and research settings. Hearing-in-noise difficulties and tinnitus are common patient complaints. Although sometimes referred to as “hidden hearing loss,” they are not-so-hidden to either the patient or the audiologist when the appropriate test battery is completed. With increasing attention to both the high prevalence of acquired hearing loss and patient complaints about real-world hearing difficulties has come interest in the potential for treatment using medicines that protect or repair inner ear sensory cells. Test measures and data from completed and ongoing clinical trials will be reviewed. This is an exciting time in the development of inner ear medicines. There is an active drug discovery pipeline with academic labs and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seeking to identify and develop medicines that effectively treat auditory complaints using support from government, industry, and venture capital sources.

Tall Needle Building Movement Noises, an Innovative Acoustic Solution Set and What We Learned Along the Solution Set Path, presented by Bonnie Schnitta
A tall needle building typically has a height-to-base ratio of 10:1. Recently these tall needle buildings are constructed with a ratio of 24:1 defying what many once considered to be impossible. To put this into perspective the Empire State Building has a ratio of 3:1. In 2016 my company was hired as an acoustic consultant to solve a noise problem that is common in tall needle buildings – disturbing noises experienced on windy days. The client was renting an apartment on a floor in the 50s in a tall needle building, while they were building a full-floor residence several floors above. The noises were reported by the client as so “frightening” that they were considering abandoning the construction project of their dream home several floors above. SoundSense engineers took the common first step to engineer a solution set by taking airborne readings in the rental unit on a very windy day. The rental was a newly built residence that used standard construction techniques. After reviewing the airborne readings, it became apparent that there was a dynamic aspect of the source creating the noises that could only be solved by obtaining more than just the airborne 1/3 octave band frequency readings. Accelerometer readings were then taken simultaneously with airborne readings. With this duality of airborne with structure-borne acoustic readings at several heights and locations in the residence, insights into a successful solution set were acquired. With a variation to standard rigidly connected structures in the construction, along with some innovative products and product applications, the problem of the unique disturbing noises of a tall needle building was solved. This presentation discusses the unique solution set that was used to solve the issue of wind condition noises as experienced in tall needle buildings. Furthermore, this case study will be used to show what was learned that has advanced our own practice of acoustic engineering, especially as it applies to tall needle buildings, or buildings subject to high wind conditions.

Enabling Multifunctionality Acoustical Materials Through Additive Manufacturing, presented by Dr. Bhisham Sharma
Additive manufacturing methods allow for the realization of structural geometries and concepts that cannot be fabricated using traditional manufacturing techniques. Combining these methods with the intentional design of a structure’s underlying geometrical architecture can allow engineers to decouple previously interdependent properties and enable the design of multifunctional structures with mechanical and functional performance tailored to match specific application needs. In this talk, I will summarize current additive methods and present an overview of our recent work exploring the development of novel structures for multifunctional acoustical applications, including the design of acoustic liners for aircraft noise reduction, the fabrication of thin hair-like fibers replicating feathers, airtight inflatable structures, and ceramic structures suitable for engineering applications.

Short Courses
As ever, the technical sessions were complemented by several short courses that ran during NOISE-CON 2024. These included:

INCE Fundamentals Prep Course & Exam: The INCE Fundamentals Exam may be used in partial fulfillment of the requirements for INCE Membership. For future sessions, if you are interested in taking the Fundamentals Exam without taking the Short Course you can do so at no charge by sending your request to ibo@inceusa.org. Please be sure to include your full name, address, email, and contact phone number, and include Fundamentals Exam in the subject line.

Fundamentals of Vibration and Sound: Have you been measuring or simulating vibration and sound without really having learned the fundamentals?  Drawing from my many tutorials in the Internoise congress proceedings (available at www.hambricacoustics.com) and the book ‘Engineering Vibroacoustics’ (Wiley) this course considered the basics with a minimum of math and plenty of computational and experimental practical examples. It started with structural vibrations, where students learned about different wave types, modes of vibration, mobility and impedance, infinite structure theory, and structural power flow.  Next, the course explained sound-structure interaction: how structures radiate sound and how sound excites structures, sound power transmission loss, and coupling between structures and acoustic cavities.  Finally, it provided an overview of numerical methods (finite elements, boundary elements, statistical energy analysis) used to solve vibroacoustic problems and their frequency ranges of applicability.

Acoustical Enclosures: Enclosures are commonly used to contain and control noise, among other purposes.  This course covered the theory and practical implications of acoustical enclosures, along with means to predict and assess the performance of enclosures. Some of the topics covered include enclosure theory, full and partial enclosures, acoustical materials, ventilation treatments, leakage and seals, analysis via simulation and test, basic design guidance, and validation.

Overview of Acoustic and Vibration Simulation Methods: Numerical Simulation has become an accepted and essential part of interior and exterior acoustics and vibration design for a range of industries and products especially for the vehicle industry to allow effective early design and to complement and reduce the amount of testing involved in product development.  Well-established tools and modeling practices exist for several different simulation methods each of which has its particular advantages and limitations based on frequency range, modeling objectives, and speed versus accuracy tradeoff and computer resource required.  This full-day course was intended for the test engineer, minimally to moderately experienced simulation engineer, or those wishing to have a deeper understanding of one or more of the presented analysis methods and an introduction to these different modeling techniques to improve understanding of the best applications to current state-of-the-art vehicle acoustic and vibration design processes.  The team of instructors offering significant acoustics and vibration simulation experience presented background, theory, practical application examples, and discussion of several of the current state-of-the-art analysis methods.

Electric Vehicle Noise & Vibration: In this course, a comprehensive study of noise and vibration in electric vehicles was presented. The course content was designed to enhance participants’ knowledge, beginning with fundamentals, and progressing to more advanced concepts. With a broad spectrum of coverage, ranging from physical principles to tools and methods, the course aims to provide a holistic view of current and future challenges in achieving a distinct and enhanced acoustic experience in modern EVs.

Architectural Acoustics: This course covered the fundamentals and applications of architectural sound separation, outdoor noise, and the acoustic design of public spaces. The content was designed for the participant to understand architectural acoustics concepts and relationships to the built environment, evaluate the impacts of noise, and evaluate options for noise mitigation, transmission loss, and design approaches for interior and exterior acoustic environments. The attendees were taught innovative ways to solve noise problems and enhance sound and clarity of speech.

Students and Young Professional Activities
INCE-USA  is proud to offer many awards and prizes to students and young professionals, to support their careers in Noise Control. At NOISE-CON 2024, there were several awards and events specifically aimed at students. These include the Hallberg Foundation Award (for student travel), the National Council of Acoustical Consultants (NCAC) Student Travel Awards, the Student Paper Competition, and the Classic Papers in Noise Control Engineering Competition. This final session has been a recurring event in several NOISE-CONs. In this competition, students present one of the classic papers listed in the entry form. An award is given based on the student’s presentation itself. The abstract should focus on the main thrust of the original paper and the focus of the presentation, which could also include additional work that has been done by the student presenter. The additional work could include reproduction of the results in the original paper, additional analysis, or the influence of the original paper on subsequent research or noise control practice, etc.

INCE-USA provides many awards and prizes to students. Please check the INCE-USA Awards page for a complete listing.

George Maling Memorial Session
There was also a special memorial session to honor the many contributions made by George Maling to the field of acoustics and noise control and the Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA. This was a unique hybrid session that included Norah and Jeff Maling in person in New Orleans and also included Zoom participants. A video recording will be posted on the INCE-USA website at a later date. George was a founding member of the INCE-USA in 1971, I-INCE in 1974, and eventually this NNI magazine.

General Chair Gordon Ebbitt introducing plenary speaker Bonnie Schnitta

Part of the Technical Tour included stops at several renovated theatres and a construction site with challenging noise isolation targets.

Look at the ceiling!

Delegates were treated to many excellent technical talks.

The 2024 Student Paper Competition Award Winners were announced at the awards ceremony

Tyler Dare (INCE-USA VP for Student Activities/Education) and Andrew Barnard (INCE-USA VP for Honors and Awards) at the Awards Ceremony

INCE-USA President Judith Rochat addressing delegates