Jonas Braasch Graduate Program in Architectural Acoustics

1. Research Design Seminar 1Course and Program Overview Jonas Braasch Graduate Program in Architectural Acoustics Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY http://symphony.arch.rpi.edu/~braasj

2. Course Goals • Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view • Developing skill in expressing myself orally or in writing • Learning how to find and use resources for answering questions or solving problems

3. Schedule

4. Core Faculty Team Ning Xiang, Associate Professor, Program Director http://symphony.arch.rpi.edu/~xiangn/ Jonas Braasch, Assistant Professor, http://symphony.arch.rpi.edu/~braasj/ Todd Brooks, Adjunct Project, Senior Consultant at Artec http://www.artecconsultants.com/04_personnel/consultants_bios/todd_brooks.html

5. Academic Calendar Fall 2009 • http://www.rpi.edu/academics/calendar09-10.html • Fall Semester 2009: August 31-Dec 11 • Spring Semester 2010: January 25-May 11 • Fall Holidays: • Labor Day, Sept. 7 • Columbus Day, Oct 12 (Oct 13 follows Monday Schedule) • November 23-25, Thanksgiving Break

6. What is a Master’s Thesis • document that presents the author's research. • is submitted to obtain a degree • The word thesis comes from the Greek word , meaning “position” (intellectual proposition)

7. Research • is the process to gather new knowledge and to establish new facts • uses a systematic approach to find and evaluate new facts • typically uses the scientific method

8. The Scientific Method/Method of Inquiry • refers to a body of well-established techniques to gather new knowledge, correct or refine existing knowledge • usually includes data collection, through observation and/or experimentation, and formulating and evaluating hypotheses (e.g., using statistical methods). • All steps to gather new knowledge should be repeatable, in order to be verifiable. Consequently researchers are expected to share all of their data and documents (full disclosure).

9. hy·poth·e·sis • a tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences Etymology: Greek, from hypotithenai to put under, suppose date: circa 1656 source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary

10. the·o·ry • a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena <the wave theory of light>a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation • an unproved assumption Etymology: Late Latin and Greek theoria date: 1592 source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary

11. law • a statement of an order or relation of phenomena that so far as is known is invariable under the given conditions • a general relation proved or assumed to hold between mathematical or logical expressions • a binding custom or practice of a community • a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority date: before 12th century source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary

12. Master’s Thesis • 40-120 pages long • Worth 5 Thesis Credits • Not graded • Public document

13. Graduate School Requirements

14. Master’s Thesis 2009 • Bockman, Alexander. 2009. On the construction of a coupled solver for 2D boundary element acoustics: intrinsic error and its minimization (adv. N.X.) • Hart, Noel W. 2009. Investigating multifractals to quantify diffuseness in room acoustics (adv. N.X.) • Dieckman, Eric A. 2009. Bayesian parameter estimation of porous materials (adv. N.X.) • Trivedi, Uday S. 2009. Utilizing reciprocal maximum-length and related sequences in the generation of a natural, spatial sounding reverberation (adv. N.X.) • Robinson, Philip W. 2009. Determining surface scattering from goniometer based diffusion measurements • (adv. N.X.) • Botts, Jonathan. 2009. A low-frequency investigation of acoustically coupled spaces using the finite-difference time-domain (adv. N.X.) • Myrbeck, Shane A. 2009. The impact of lighting and room acoustics parameters on the perceived intimacy of a musical performance (adv. J.B.) • Abercrombie, Clemeth L. 2009. Influence of vibration and stage construction on the perception of musical performance (adv. J.B.) • Ellison, John. 2009. The effectiveness of multiple harmonics in eliciting the precedence effect in normal-hearing listener (adv. J.B.)

15. Master’s Thesis 2008 • Olson, Stephen Thomas. 2008. Understanding the perception of double-sloped energy decays: a multidimensional scaling approach (adv. N.X.) • Malora, Douglas Scott. 2008. Experimental determination of scattering coefficients: a scale model approach (adv. N.X.) • Cain, Michael C. 2008: A subjective analysis of early decay time using a simulated soundfield (adv. P.C.) • Markham, Benjamin E. 2008. Multi-resolution geometrical acoustics modeling (adv. P.C.) • Giglio, Mark V. 2008. The effect of reverberation and echo on the perception of audio-visual simultaneity (adv. P.C.) • Di Angelo, Adam. 2008. Arcane methods in architectural acoustics (adv. P.C.) • van der Harten, Arthur Wayne. 2008. The investigation of geometrical acoustics within a 3-dimensional CAD program (adv. P.C.) • Tranby, Nicholas S. 2008. Talker localization utilizing a microphone array and close microphones (adv. J.B.) • Secules, Stephen D. 2008. Quantifying the degradation of automatic speech recognition for reverberant environments (adv. J.B.) • Stetson, Kathleen A. 2008. Singers' preferences for acoustical characteristics of concert halls (adv. J.B.) • Gedemer, Linda A. 2008. Perceptual requirements of dynamic auralizations in audiovisual environments (adv. J.B.) • Guthrie, Anne Elizabeth. 2008. Using telepresence to evaluate the relevance of acoustic parameters for musician communication in indeterminate music (adv. J.B.)

16. Master’s Thesis 2007 • Digerness, Joseph. 2007. Modeling the effects of desk chairs on classroom reverberation time (adv. P.C.) • Yuen, Cheuk Wa. 2007. Investigation of voice stage support: subjective preference test using an auralization system for self-voice (adv. P.C.) • Rubin, Gordon. 2007. Acoustic material measurement using scanning laser doppler vibrometer (adv. N.X.) • Ruggles, Dorea R. 2007. A binaural approach to speech intelligibility (adv. N.X.) • de la Cruz Alvarez, Rolando A. 2007. Sound-field scanning in acoustically coupled spaces with the use of a high-resolution measurement system (adv. N.X.)

17. Doctoral Dissertations • Henderson, Paul D. 2006. Achieving perceptually-accurate aural telepresence (adv. N.X.) • Jing, Yun. 2009. On the use of transport and diffusion equations for room-acoustic predictions (adv. N.X.) • Valente, Daniel L. 2009. Listeners' expectation of room acoustical parameters based on visual cues (adv. J.B.)

18. Recent Master Thesis Topics(Selection) • Architectural Scale Models • Coupled Volumes • Binaural Psychoacoustics • Auditory-Visual Interaction in Rooms • Stereoscopic Binaural Dummy Head • Artificial Reverberation Algorithms

19. How to find previous Master’s Theses • Go to RensSearch (need campus access or VPN access) http://opac.lib.rpi.edu/ Type in advisers: Xiang, Ning Calamia, Paul or Braasch, Jonas (make sure to download thesis from menu and not just cover page and abstract)

22. Assignment • Read paper: Vorlaender, M. (2009) Auralization of Spaces, Physics Today [handed out in class] • Write essay with the topic: • “Why do you want to study Architectural Acoustics and what field would you like to pursue your research in” • (about 1-2 pages, letter-size format) • It is okay to adapt your program-application cover letter • Due date: paper before next class, writing assignment, Sept. 11, 2009

23. Schedule conflicts • 127 AES Convention, October 9-12 (Friday-Monday), 2009 [October, likely Class Field Trip to ARUP and AES] • New York Electronic Art Festival (Sunday October 18th) • Friday October 23 Harvestworks Demo • Binaural Bash: Oct 23-24 • IWPASH 2009 (International Workshop on the Principles and Applications of Spatial Hearing), Japan, November 11-13 (Wednesday-Friday), 2009

24. Preparing a Master’s Thesis using Latex • RPI Latex Master’s Thesis Template and Guidelines • http://helpdesk.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=325 • PDF-Guideline and template-how-to: • http://rpi.edu/dept/arc/docs/latex-thesis/rpithesis-doc.pdf

25. Master’s Degree Requirement • http://catalog.rpi.edu/content.php?catoid=8&navoid=180#Mast_Degr

26. RPI Master’s Thesis Requirements • Digital Thesis FAQ • http://library.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=1079 • RPI Thesis Manual • http://www.rpi.edu/dept/grad/docs/ThesisGuide/manual.PDF

27. Graduate School PDF Forms • http://gradoffice.rpi.edu:80/update.do?catcenterkey=20

28. Required Tools • Matlab • Latex • Word & Powerpoint • EASE, Easera, CATT-Acoustics • Pure Data

29. Graduation Dates • May 4:Master’s theses due to advisers. • May 11: Master’s theses due in the Graduate School. • May 29:Commencement • July 23:Master’s theses due to advisers. • July 30:Master’s theses due to the Graduate School. • August 31: Official date of August graduation; diplomas mailed to students after final clearance is completed in September. Degree recipients may take part in the May 2011 Commencement ceremony. • Approx. November 30:Master’s theses due to advisers. • Approx. December 11:Classes end after last evening class.Master’s theses due to the Graduate School. • Approx. December 31: Official date of December graduation; diplomas mailed in January. May 2011 Commencement ceremony.

30. What to do to graduate in May 2010? • Find Thesis topic really soon (e.g., October 2009) • Spend real time working on the thesis during the winter break • Continue to work on the Thesis during the Design Competition (Spring 2010)

31. Fellowships • Fellowships: • NSF Graduate Fellowship, Nov 2-12 • http://www.nsfgrfp.org/ • National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship, deadline will be announced in September • http://ndseg.asee.org/ • RPI HAAS Fellowships, internal Doctoral Fellowship, usually due in March.