Colleagues,

The Washington D.C. Chapter of the Acoustical Society of America is pleased to announce our next chapter meeting! Please plan to attend and enjoy an evening of presentations and discussions in acoustics.

When:

September 10th, 2003

7:00 PM

Where:

University of Maryland

Biology-Psychology Building, Room 1208

College Park, MD 20742

Driving Directions:

http://www.umd.edu/visitors/directions.html

Parking Map:

http://www.parking.umd.edu/themap

Attendance and parking are free. Please RSVP before COB Friday September 5th 2003 to ASAchapterDC@yahoo.com if you plan to attend the meeting. Feel free to post attachments and to invite others.

ASAchapterDC@yahoo.com

http://www.geocities.com/ASAchapterDC

Dr. Peter D'Antonio

Arcousthetics: The science of optimally combining architecture, acoustics and aesthetics

Abstract: In classic architecture, statuary, columns, coffered ceilings and relief ornamentation were not only vernacular aesthetic finishes, but they also provided beneficial acoustical scattering. In contemporary architecture there are no vernacular scattering surfaces and the result is compromised speech intelligibility and sound quality. By combining the power of boundary element prediction and multi-dimensional optimization techniques, combined with a new diffusion coefficient metric to evaluate uniform surface scattering, we can now optimize the acoustical scattering from shapes the architect creates. This completely new approach provides the ability to create architecturally aesthetic acoustical surfaces that satisfy the adage “good acoustics should be heard and not seen”. Several examples and case studies will be presented.

Resume: Peter D’Antonio was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941. He received his B.S. degree from St. John’s University in 1963 and his Ph.D. from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, in 1967. In 1974, he established the current standard for modern recording studio design at Underground Sound Recording Studio, Largo, Maryland. Dr. D’Antonio is founder and president of RPG Diffusor Systems, Inc., established in 1983. Dr. D’Antonio has significantly expanded the acoustical palette of design ingredients by creating and implementing a wide range of novel number-theoretic, fractal and optimized surfaces, for which he holds many trademarks and patents. He has lectured extensively, published numerous scientific articles in technical journals and magazines and is the co-author of the book "Acoustic Absorbers and Diffusers: Theory, Design and Application," Spon Press 2003. He currently serves as Chairman of the AES Subcommittee on Acoustic’s Working Group SC-04-02; is a member of the ISO/TC 43/SC 2/WG25 Working Group; and has served as adjunct professor of acoustics at the Cleveland Institute of Music, since 1991. He is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and the Audio Engineering Society and a professional affiliate of the American Institute of Architects.

Dr. Bernard Lohr

Masking noise and its influence on bird communication in natural habitats

Abstract: The vocal behavior of birds is inexorably linked to their auditory perceptual capabilities. Vocal signals and auditory abilities in birds may be influenced by many factors including phylogeny, allometry, and habitat acoustics. One important acoustic component of natural habitats is the ambient noise that may come from many sources, an increasing number of them anthropogenic. Along with colleagues Robert J. Dooling and Timothy Wright at the University of Maryland, we investigated the factors known to influence a bird's perception of conspecific and heterospecific vocalizations, including the impact that noise may have on a bird's perception of acoustic signals. The masking of vocal signals, and its consequences for spacing, social behavior, and the detection and recognition of bird songs, may have a profound effect on the dynamics of vocal behavior in birds. An understanding of what a bird hears and how it responds to signals in a noisy background, allows us to develop a model and a test case for examining the effects of noise on auditory perception in natural habitats.

Resume: Dr. Bernie Lohr is a Research Associate in the Program for the Comparative and Evolutionary Biology of Hearing at the University of Maryland. He received his Ph.D. in Zoology at Duke University in 1995. Dr. Lohr has over 15 years experience exploring the underlying mechanisms and biological function of acoustic communication signals in birds. He has conducted behavioral and physiological research to examine the relationship of song production to auditory perception in the context of both laboratory and field experiments. Dr. Lohr has recently been involved in research aimed at estimating and modeling the "active space" of avian acoustic communication signals in their natural habitats. He is currently the recipient of an NIH R03 grant to investigate the hearing abilities of two groups of birds that may be more sensitive to higher frequency sounds than most small birds (> 7 kHz), the hummingbirds and Ammodramus sparrows.