ARL:UT in the News
High school grads experiment with science at the Applied Research Laboratory
The High School Apprentice Program at the Applied Research Laboratories at The University of Texas provides an early taste of science and engineering for students entering their freshman year of college.

The students get experience with research projects designed by ARL research scientists, who are their mentors for the summer. The projects deliver real results that the ARL researchers will use in their work. Read the article

Office of Naval Research Press Releases

Diver Navigation
The recent Office of Naval Research news release, “Diver Navigation,” 4/13/2006, features work done in ARL:UT's Advanced Technology Laboratory. This research development allows divers to accurately plan and navigate underwater.

Unmanned Undersea Vehicles
The Office of Naval Research news release, "UUV Breakthough," mentions an ARL:UT development that improves mapping, classification, and acoustic communications in autonomous unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs).

New Ideas from Future Researchers

Selected high school graduates "apprentice" with researchers during the summer, learning what scientists and engineers do in their chosen area of work. These apprentices bring fresh approaches and new ideas to their science and engineering project assignments. Shaun Sherman, a graduate of Waller High School, studied light bulbs as a source of generating sound underwater.

The High School Apprenticeship Program
The High School Apprenticeship Program is a competitive program for graduating seniors of area high schools who plan to attend UT Austin. The program provides the selected students with exposure to laboratory research and development, and also provides the young students with an idea of what scientists and engineers do in their chosen area of work. Area high schools are notified of the program, and students who have an interest in engineering, computer science, physics, and math are invited to apply. U.S. citizenship is required. MORE

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is primarily a voluntary organization and attracts the interest, commitment, and service of a large number of professionals. Their contributions in the formation, guidance, administration, and development of the ASA are largely responsible for its worldwide preeminence in the field of acoustics.

The 146th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America was held in Austin, Texas from 10-14 November 2003 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel. Applied Research Laboratories (ARL), The University of Texas at Austin was the host organization for the meeting. The Meeting General Chair was ARL’s Executive Director, Dr. Clark Penrod. Dr. Evan Westwood, a Research Scientist in ARL’s Environmental Sciences Laboratory, was Technical Program Chair. Other University research staff and faculty on the Meeting Local Committee included Dr. Chester McKinney, a former Director of ARL, ARL Research Professor Dr. David Blackstock (E. P. Schoch Professor Emeritus in Engineering/UT Austin Department of Mechanical Engineering), and ARL Research Professor Dr. Mark Hamilton (Harry L. Kent, Jr. Professor in Mechanical Engineering/UT Austin Department of Mechanical Engineering). Many other ARL staff members also were responsible for the planning, organization and conduct of the meeting. Especially noteworthy was the service of Jim Stockton, former head of the Engineering Services Division at ARL. Jim served as Deputy Chair, and had a major role in making the meeting a great success through his thorough attention to detail and his ability to find solutions to virtually every problem that occurred.

Several University staff members were recognized during the meeting:

• Dr. Chester McKinney was named as an ASA Gold Medal recipient. The prestigious Gold Medal is presented annually to an individual whose contributions to the field of acoustics and to the Acoustical Society have been unusually distinguished. The medal will be presented to Dr. McKinney at the 75th Anniversary meeting of ASA to be held in New York City, NY, in May 2004.
• During a plenary session of the meeting, certificates were presented to the new College of Fellows members that were elected at the previous meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee in late May, 2003. Dr. Evan Westwood of ARL received one of these certificates.
• During the College of Fellows Luncheon, University of Texas Professor Steven Weinberg, Nobel Laureate in Physics and winner of the National Medal of Science was the guest speaker. Professor Weinberg, author of The First Three Minutes, discussed the early universe in the first few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang. He described how the entire universe existed as plasma, and that electromagnetic radiation in the form of light could not exist at that stage. However, acoustic waves could and did propagate in the plasma, and he described the evidence of those early acoustic fields that exists today in the cosmic background radiation.
• Technical tours included a tour of the University Bates Recital Hall and Visser-Rowland Tracker Organ. Dr. Frank Speller, Associate Professor of Organ and Harpsichord was part of a team that provided information and explanations of the design, construction and installation of the organ, as well as the design and construction of the Bates Recital Hall.
• The technical sessions included a number of sessions recognizing the contributions of University researchers:
  Acoustical Oceanography and Underwater Acoustics: Aubrey L. Anderson Memorial Session on Acoustics of Gas-Bearing Sediments. Aubrey was a Research Engineering/Scientist Associate V at ARL until January 1977.
• Engineering Acoustics, Noise and Architectural Acoustics: Honoring the contributions of ARL Research Professor Dr. Elmer Hixson (Professor Emeritus/UT Austin Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering). One of the papers presented during this session was “Reflections on Elmer Hixson’s contributions to architectural acoustics” by Paul T. Calamaria (Department of Computer Science, Princeton University).
• Physical Acoustics and Biomedical Ultrasound/Bioresponse to Vibration: Special Session on Nonlinear Acoustics in Honor of Dr. David Blackstock. Dr. Mark Hamilton co-chaired this session, and presented a paper, “David Blackstock and nonlinear acoustics at UT Austin”. ARL Research Fellow Dr. Wayne M. Wright also presented one of the invited papers during this session.

ARL, a research laboratory of the The University of Texas at Austin, has a long history in the field of acoustics research. Many ARL researchers have been and continue to be active members of the Acoustical Society of America, along with other researchers and faculty members of the University.

The following is from ASA’s Website and provides some history and a brief description of the Society:

In 1931 the Acoustical Society joined with three other scientific societies to form the American Institute of Physics, an organization designed to unite physics-related groups and to provide facilities for publishing and other common activities. The Institute now has 10 member societies covering a range of physics-related interests.

The Society has attracted members from various fields related to sound including physics, electrical, mechanical, and aeronautical engineering, oceanography, biology, physiology, psychology, architecture, speech, noise and noise control, and music. This diversity and the opportunity it provides for interchange of knowledge and points of view has become one of the strengths of the Society. From its beginning the Society has tried to serve the interests of workers in all branches of acoustics, both theoretical and applied.

Two meetings of the Society have been held each year, except between 1942 and 1945. Papers are presented concerned with architectural acoustics; psychological and physiological acoustics; applied acoustics; instruments and apparatus; music and musical instruments; noise; speech communication; ultrasonics, radiation, and scattering; mechanical vibrations and shock; underwater sound; aero acoustics; macrosonics; acoustical signal processing; bioacoustics; and many more topics. To assure adequate attention to these separate fields and to new ones that may develop, the Society establishes technical committees and technical groups charged with keeping abreast of developments and needs of the membership in their specialized fields.

There are now six categories of membership: Honorary Fellow, Fellow, Full Member, Associate Member, Student Member, and Emeritus Member.

Since its organization in 1929, the Society has grown steadily in membership and stature. At this time nearly 7000 men and women who work in acoustics throughout the U.S. and abroad belong to this prestigious Society. A variety of fields related to sound are represented:

• Physics
• Measurement technologies and instrumentation
• Engineering disciplines including:
  • Electrical
  • Mechanical
  • Civil
  • Aeronautical
  • Robotics and computer sciences
• Oceanography
• Underwater propagation
• Biology
• Physiology
• Psychology
• Architecture (e.g., concert hall design)
• Speech and hearing
• Music
• Noise and noise control
• Animal bioacoustics
• Structural acoustics and vibration

This diversity, along with the opportunities provided for the exchange of knowledge and points of view, has become one of the Society's unique and strongest assets. From the beginning, the Acoustical Society has sought to serve the widespread interests of its members and the acoustics community in all branches of acoustics, both theoretical and applied.