An article has been recently published on Acoustics, a high quality peer-reviewed scientific journal by the reputed Open Access publisher MDPI. 

The article is entitled Non-special loudspeakers as speech test sources in natural acoustics speech intelligibility investigations and is freely accessible from the journal website and from this link https://www.mdpi.com/2624-599X/5/3/38.

It has been authored by Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina and co-authored by Dr Haydar Aygun and Ms Liji Suseela Thankom Mohan. The work has attracted 137 views within 24h since publication; likely due to its real-world application in the concerned industry. The authors expect that the novel findings of this study will inform practitioners on the suitability of affordable loudspeakers when standardized special test loudspeakers are not available. We hope you enjoy the read.

On 23rd of September 2022, a panel of representatives of the Institute of Acoustics (IOA), visited LSBU  to complete re-accreditation on the IOA Diploma of Acoustics and Noise Control and Certificate of Competence of Environmental Noise measurements  (CCENM) courses. The CCENM courses have been run by The School of The Built Environment and Architecture since 2013.

The director for those courses at LSBU, Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina, organised and led the visit with the assistance of the teaching team and School of BEA management. The panel were highly satisfied with the overall running of the courses.

We have recently received the confirmation that LSBU has gained re-accreditation to run those two prestigious courses for another 5 years. This is the third time that LSBU is accredited led by the courses’ owner. Well done Luis and the teaching team on a job well done!

The Institute of Acoustics (IOA, the UK professional body for the multidisciplinary field of acoustics) have recently approved to instate a new award named after the late Dr Bob Peters, in recognition to his outstanding service to acoustics education and his long standing commitment to teaching and student success in the UK.

Dr Peters was honorary fellow member of the IOA and for 20 years was part of the School of BEA Acoustics Group teaching staff, contributing greatly to the good standing on acoustics education that the group holds.

The award was conceived and proposed by Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina who is a former student of Dr Bob Peters.

Dr Peters advised on research projects and also acted as internal PhD examiner for various PhD students at LSBU including Luis.

This will be the first award in the UK to recognize and celebrate excellence in acoustics teaching and education.  

The first nominations will be considered this autumn 2021 for 2022. The award will be biannual and for a singl

One of the few upsides of lockdown was that, if a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square, you had a chance of hearing it.

Take the UK-wide scheme called The Quiet Project, which enlisted a network of acoustic engineers and researchers to map out changes to the ambient soundscape during lockdown. It has been building up a database of sound measurements that should act as an invaluable resource for understanding our acoustic environment: how sound correlates with economic activity, say, and how it affects wellbeing.

One of the project leaders, LSBU’s Professor Stephen Dance explained that often it’s a question of finding the happy medium. “You might like waking up when it’s quiet, but in the evening you might want the vibrancy”. The value associated with these positive and negative effects of sound has never really been measured, but this has been a chance. Professor Dance said that lockdown seemed to have lowered urban noise by about five decibels, mostly because of absent traffic. That’s

On 19 February 2020 Professor Geoff Leventhall presented at the Keyworth Lecture theatre. He delivered a fascinating talk entitled “I can still hear it and it’s making me ill”.

The presentation discussed and contested challenging aspects of noise perception and associated annoyance of very quiet noises and even non-existent noises. It considered that multiple external influences and factors could promote adverse responses to noise. Controversial health effects and disturbance from wind turbine low frequency noise were also covered.

Professor Leventhall was Head of Institute of Environmental Engineering and reader in Acoustics at London South Bank University. He was also president of the Institute of Acoustics (IOA). He is a world-leading expert in low frequency noise and infrasounds and is currently a consultant in Noise and Vibration.

The audience valued and appreciated the insights put forward by Professor Leventhall, judging by the numerous comments and questions posed to him.

Luis Gomez-Agustina (gomezagl@lsbu.ac.uk) has organised for William Minting (Director of MINTING) to deliver a talk on Tuesday 19 November 2019 at 6pm in Keyworth Lecture Theatre B. Details provided below.

ABSTRACT

Hiscox versus The Pinnacle was a construction nuisance case heard in the High Court in 2008 and 2009. Pinnacle site clearance begin in mid-2008, with the demolition of the nine storey Crossley Court. This work caused high levels of noise and vibration in the neighbouring property belonging to Hiscox Insurance. This talk explores the ramifications of the most significant Construction Nuisance case since Andreae v Selfridge [CA 1938], and how safeguarding advancements apply to Party Wall etc Act 1996 matters, as well as construction projects conducted outside that jurisdiction. The talk is aimed to assist in particularising standard draft documents to specific project circumstances.

THE PRESENTER

Will enjoys a reputation for having advised the Royal Household, the Fre

An Acoustics masterclass will be given by Rob Harris, from ISVR, Universisty of Southamnpton and Theatre Projects, at 6pm on Thursday 19 September 2019 at the Keyworth Centre (Keyworth Lecture Threatre B). If you're interested in attending, please email the organiser, Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina at gomezagl@lsbu.ac.uk.

ABSTRACT
Auditorium acoustics is interesting in that objective science and engineering are employed to elicit subjective perceptions and emotions. This lecture discusses the auditorium acoustic design of concert halls, opera houses and theatres. It starts with describing some fundamental requirements for audiences, performers and other stakeholders. Both scientific and other factors are considered. The lecture will then look at how the art and science have developed over the last 35 years. This will include the use of scale and computer modelling, the paradigm shift of auralisation and the integration of architecture and creative digital audio. The scientific and engineering r

London Underground has a big noise problem according to a recent feature published by WIRED magazine. WIRED interviewed Dr Luis Gomez-Agustina to get his take on the situation. You can check out the full feature by clicking here.

Dr Gomez-Agustina is a Lecture in Acoustics and Building Services, and also the Course Director for two of our courses:

IOA Acoustics and Noise Control Diploma

IOA Certificate of Competence

WIRED magazine is an American publication focusing on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy and politics

The School recently hosted a delegation from the King Khalid University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; the group included Deans and Heads of Department from a variety of disciplines. Dr Amer Ali iniated and organised the visit, he kindly recieved the delegation and chaperoned them throughout their time on campus. They were interested to learn about how we handle the candidate selection process of senior managers within a higher education setting. To this purpose, a lecture was delivered by our School Executive Administrator (James Pang) and our HR Business Partner (Edith Baker) in which we explained the School’s mission and how this was integral to selecting our senior managers.

The delegation were then taken on a tour of our facilities - they made stops at our Library, Student Life Centre and our Acoustics Laboratory. Mike Swire explained the functions of our Student Life Centre, elaborating on the support we provide students, while Professor Stephen Dance guided the delegation throu

The Acoustics Team at Inter-Noise 2019

Every year the International Institute for Noise Control Engineering, organise a conference in the field of acoustics, www.internoise2019.org. This year it was held in Madrid, Spain, to coincide with the Spanish Acoustical Society's 50th anniversary. Between 16-19 June 2019 with Municipal Congress hosted the event where 1000 papers were presented to 1200 delegates representing 51 countries.

The Acoustics Group of London South Bank University decided that branding was key for marketing our courses. To this end, we had 11 delegates each wearing specially designed polo shirts. Our delegates included four former Masters students who presented their dissertation projects to an international audience, two current PhD candidates presenting their latest research, and three members of the teaching staff presenting their own ideas. We also had one current Masters student who wanted to experience the event and take advantage of the networking opportunity w