Page 59 - Volume 12, Issue 2 - Spring 2012

Program at the University of Hartford. Women students in particular will be recruited to work on the project, as women remain under-represented in the engineering profession. The grant pro- posal also includes educational outreach in local area elementary and middle schools to expose young students to sci- ence and to a woman scientist role model by interacting with the students through educational activities. In addition, through a collaboration with the Acoustical Society of America’s Education Committee, Vigeant will cre- ate activity kits to introduce students to the topics of sound through interactive, hands-on activities.
Vigeant earned a Ph.D. in engineer- ing, focusing on architectural acoustics, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and she received a BSc in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Her research interests include architectural acoustics, specifically room acoustics measurement parameters and computer modeling. She is a member of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Society for Engineering Education. She served as co- editor, with David T. Bradley and Erica E. Ryherd of Acoustical Design of Theatres for Drama Performance: 1985-2010, pub- lished by ASA in 2010.
The NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher- scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the con- text of the mission of their organizations.
ONR names research teams to help reduce jet noise
The deafening roar of supersonic
aircraft can cause hearing damage to sailors and marines on flight decks, so the Office of Naval Research (ONR) is fund- ing a new project to help reduce jet noise.
“The noise problem falls into two categories: noise exposure on the flight deck and noise impact on the commu- nities surrounding air bases,” said Dr. Brenda Henderson, deputy manager for the Jet Noise Reduction project, part of ONR’s Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) program. “We’re funding the development of tools that we’ll need to help control jet noise in tactical air- craft.”
With support from ONR’s Basic Research Challenge program—which funds basic research in new areas not already covered by other programs—the Jet Noise Reduction project is a long- term effort. Jointly funded with NASA, ONR is awarding grants and contracts to eight teams—six academic institutions and two commercial companies—to develop noise-reduction technologies, as well as measurement and prediction tools and noise source models to dampen the noisy jet plumes that emanate from naval aircraft.
Awards totaling more than $4 mil- lion were given to teams at Brigham Young University, California Institute of Technology, Cascade Technologies, Innovative Technology Applications Co., University of Illinois, University of Mississippi, Pennsylvania State University and Virginia Tech.
The research and tools produced by the eight teams in this project will help to create new approaches to noise-mitiga- tion technology aimed at reducing levels of jet exhaust noise that, when combined with hearing protection, will result in safer noise environments for sailors and marines. In addition, the lower jet exhaust noise levels will aid in reducing noise complaints reported in communi- ties near military bases.
Michelle Vigeant awarded an NSF CAREER grant
Michelle Vigeant, assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department and Acoustics Program in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA) the University of Hartford, has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF CAREER grant is the most prestigious award for a junior faculty member in engineering and the sciences, and it is sought by researchers from top science and engi- neering programs around the country.
Dr. Vigeant was awarded $400K over a five-year period for her project, “Importance of Late-Sound-Field Properties and Listener Envelopment to Room Acoustic Quality and Design.” The overall goal of the project is to investigate the sense of acoustics quality in concert halls and to find a measurable quantity that can be used to quantify the acoustics of halls. The project includes taking measurements in a number of concert halls in both the United States and Europe. The project will include research opportunities for approximately 15 undergraduate students in the Acoustics
58 Acoustics Today, April 2012