Page 44 - Spring 2006

The Optical Microphone
Sennheiser Electronics. He is responsible for Sennheiser research activities in Germany and in the new Sennheiser Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, California. He received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Göttingen in the fields of electroacoustics, psychoacoustics, and digital audio signal processing. After working at the Universities of Göttingen and Oldenburg and a stay at Bell Labs, he joined Sennheiser in 1995. He also teaches electroacoustics at the University of Hanover.
ASA returns to Providence
The Acoustical Society of America has held three meetings in Providence (chaired by Bruce Lindsay, Bob Beyer, and Stan Ehrlich) and the last one was in 1978. This interesting New England seaport has much to offer the vis- itor. And as always, ASA meetings have much to offer attendees.
The city, second largest in New England, was founded by Roger Williams, a New England preacher who was driv- en out of Massachusetts by the strict Puritans and named in honor of “God’s merciful Providence.”
The meeting will use the facilities of the Rhode Island Convention Center and the Westin Providence Hotel. The technical program includes 1046 papers organized into 104 sessions. Exhibits of acoustical instruments, materials, and services will be conveniently located in the Convention Center. A Distinguished Lecture will be pre- sented by Nikolai Andreevich Dubrovskiy, Director of the N. N. Andreyev Acoustics Institute, Russian Academy of Science and President of the Russian Acoustical Society. A tutorial lecture “2004 Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami: Multidisciplinary Lessons from an Oceanic Monster” we be given by Emile A. Okal of Northwestern University on Monday, June 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Other features of the meeting include a “Hot Topics” session, featuring the fields of Acoustical Oceanography, Education in Acoustics, and Underwater Acoustics, a Student Design Competition, a Gallery of Acoustics, and a
Members of the Technical Program Organizing Committee for the Providence meeting.
Grant Writing Workshop. A short course on Underwater Acoustic Communications, with Pierre-Philippe Beaujean as the instructor will take place Sunday and Monday, June 4-5. Technical tours include a tour of the acoustic test facil- ities at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, RI on Monday.
The movie, Touch The Sound, featuring Evelyn Glennie will be shown on Wednesday, 7 June from 7:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m., at the Providence Place Cinemas 16 (entertainment level), Providence Place Mall. Members of the ASA are invited to this special showing without charge but you must pick up a voucher at the ASA Registration desk for admission to the theater. Some members of ASA heard Ms. Glennie in concert at the ASA Vancouver meet- ing. For Evelyn, who is deaf, sound is palpable and rhythm is the basis of everything. The film follows her remarkable story from her native Scotland through California, New York, and England.
Rhode Island, the “Ocean State,” is easily our smallest state in area, so that legendary mansions, scenic beaches, and interesting historical sites are within minutes of Providence. Newport has summer homes of some of the world’s wealthiest families, as well as being the home of the Newport Jazz Festival and America’s Cup yacht racing. The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located here. Mansions include the Breakers (home of Cornelius Vanderbilt), the Elms, Marble House, Rosecliff, and many others.
42 Acoustics Today, April 2006