Making a sound difference - acoustics of Canley Community Centre

Research Group Activity

Acoustics, acoustic spaces, perception of sound; MMP stream

Project Description

Canley Community Centre brings people together. It is a multifunctional space, used for talks, plays, fairs, Canley food hub and related support, and coffee mornings, as well as music. The acoustics of the main room is exceptionally bad because it suffers from a long reverberation time, which means it can be hard to hear clearly for many of these uses. You will make a difference and develop (and if time allows implement) realistic, creative and achievable solutions to improve the acoustics, offering an adaptable environment for the different uses.

Student Level

Open to both undergraduate students.

Location

This project requires attendance at a lab or office on campus

Skills you can learn from this project

This is an interdisciplinary project that involves study of acoustics as well as perception of sound, and how it can have a direct positive impact on a local community. The student will learn about acoustic spaces and how these can be engineered to suit different purposes. The student will learn methods of measuring the acoustic response of a room and how to modify this response using different methods of sound absorption or reflection. They will learn how various materials respond to excitation by acoustic waves. They will also explore how human hearing and sound perception works. Aside from the academic learning, they will also learn how to perform collaborative and co-designed research with a community group. Ultimately, they will propose a workable solution to improve the acoustics of Canley Community Centre and, if time permits, test the outcome.

Required Skills

If you wish to apply for this project, fill in the form below including uploading your CV and personal statement, explaining why you want to do this particular internship project. Attachments must be in PDF format.

Project Team

Dr Oksana Trushkevych

Dr Mark Hinton