Page 37 - Spring 2006

ASA–INCE/USA SYNERGY
Gerald C. Lauchle, 2005 President INCE/USA
Graduate Program in Acoustics, The Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
The roles and interests of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and the Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA (INCE/USA) have much in common. The very successful recent joint meet- ing of the two societies in Minneapolis demonstrates the mutual benefits of coordinated activities. This article reviews the history of the ASA–INCE/USA relationship and proposes several areas in which closer collaboration between them might provide greater benefit to their mem- bers, the global acoustics community, and society in general. The ASA was formed in 1929 with the purpose to increase and diffuse the knowledge of acoustics and promote its practical
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application. The present membership,
in excess of 7000, works in many diverse fields including physics, engi- neering, oceanography, biology, physi- ology, psychology, architecture, speech, and music. The ASA was one of the founding Member Societies of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) in 1931. The ASA promotes the use of technical groups and commit- tees for intra-Society communication, holds regular professional meetings, publishes The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA), supports the development of acoustics-related stan- dards, offers awards for distinguished achievement in acoustics, re-prints out-of-print classic works, and keeps members apprised of acoustics news through its periodicals.
Likewise, the INCE/USA strives to advance the frontiers of knowledge, ele- vate the standards of professional excel- lence, stimulate technical progress, inform the public of technical develop- ments, and apply technical progress to the satisfaction of the needs of mankind for a quieter environment in which to
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work and live. At present, the Institute is
organized similarly to ASA in that it is served by a group of volunteer officers, including five Vice Presidents, a Board of Directors, committees, and a paid staff. It publishes the bimonthly refereed journal
“Our organizations have contributed substantially to the International Commission on Acoustics, to the International Congresses on Acoustics, and to International INCE—these are organizations that facilitate international cooperation.”
interested in noise. A compromise was reached that led to the re-naming of the magazine to Sound, Its Uses and Control, within which practical papers in all areas of acoustics were published. For various reasons the production of Sound, Its Uses and Control ended in 1963, and in 1972, ASA and INCE/USA cooperated in the publica- tion of Noise/News, a bimonthly newsletter.
Even though the ASA Technical Council was formed to serve as a chan- nel of communication between the technical committees and the Executive Council, the Technical Committee on Noise (TCN) during the 1960s was unable to meet the needs of the increasing number of noise control engineers. A major reason for this growth was the National Environmental Policy Act of 1968, which led to the establishment of the Office of Noise Abatement and Control within the Environmental Protection Agency. Many members of TCN real- ized that there would be significant emphasis on noise in the future, and that an organization was needed to promote professionalism in the field of noise control engineering.
In January 1971, a workshop on noise control engineering was held at Arden House in Harriman, NY with Leo Beranek as Chairman and William Lang as Co-Chairman. These individuals kept the ASA and other related societies fully informed of the goal of this workshop to form a new professional organization devoted to the practice of noise control engineering. The majority of the partici- pants of the workshop were members of the ASA; it was easily agreed that a close relationship between ASA and the new organization would be fostered. The Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA was incorporated in Washington, DC in June 1971. Leo Beranek became the first President, while John Johnson, the President of ASA at that time, fully endorsed this incorpora- tion. Dr. Johnson later served as President of INCE/USA in 1980.
Noise Control Engineering Journal (NCEJ) and the quarterly magazine Noise/News International (NNI), as well as the pro- ceedings from its NOISE-CON and INCE/USA-hosted INTER-NOISE meetings. An important function of INCE/USA is the recognition of noise control professionals through its rigorous board certification program; approxi- mately 17% of the 1000-plus members are board certified. International INCE (I-INCE) was fostered by INCE/USA and founded in 1974.
Background3
In the 1950s and 60s, some acousticians were doing work in the area of acoustic noise and its control that led to the emerging discipline called noise control engineering. Unfortunately, the small group of noise control practitioners found that it was difficult to get their papers published in the research-oriented JASA. Through the leadership of then President Leo Beranek, the Society began publishing the magazine NOISE Control to provide a forum for noise and noise control papers. Nevertheless, there were mem- bers of the Executive Council who believed that the magazine should cease to exist because of the small per- centage (~ 9%) of the membership
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