Institute of Advanced Studies Sound Theme Launch

Keynote Speech 1: Bubble acoustics: the aim is to save billions of lives

Timothy Leighton, FRS FREng FMedSci ScD is the founder and Chair of the Network for AntiMicrobial Resistance and Infection Prevention (NAMRIP) and Global-NAMRIP, and of the Health Effects of Ultrasound in Air (HEFUA) group. He is Professor of Ultrasonics and Underwater Acoustics at the University of Southampton, UK; and Director and Inventor-in-Chief of Sloan Water Technology Ltd., a UK manufacturer founded on his patents.

His has been awarded 8 international medals, and 6 international prizes for invention. The citation for the Institute of Physics Paterson medal (2006) describes “Timothy Leighton’s contribution is outstanding in both breadth and depth. He is an acknowledged world leader in four fields”. He is Triple Academician (there are fewer of these than there are Nobel Prize winners).

The citation on 2014 election to Fellowship of the Royal Society reads:

“Timothy Leighton is distinguished for his research on the acoustical physics of bubbles, especially their nonlinear behaviour; for his inventions and discoveries including bubble measurements in the surf zone, pipelines and methane seeps; for shock wave lithotripsy monitoring, disease detection in cancellous bone and needle free injection; for sonar systems that overcome bubble masking and numerous industrial applications. His seminal monograph The Acoustic Bubble has become the primary reference on bubble physical acoustics”.

Keynote 2: Now You’re Talking, Trevor Cox Professor of Acoustic Engineering, University of Salford

Talking and singing comes naturally to most of us so it is easy to overlook how truly remarkable the voice is. Mixing biology, physics and psychology, Trevor will explore the workings of the voice looking at accents and different singing styles. The human voice has always been in flux, but over the last hundred years or so, this has been accelerated by technology. What about the future? ‘Photoshop for voice’ has already been demonstrated, leading to a future with #FakeSpeech. Rich in sound examples, the talk will draw on Trevor’s latest popular science book, Now You’re Talking.

Trevor has presented numerous science documentaries on BBC Radio and written feature articles for New Scientist, Sound on Sound and The Guardian. He is author of Sonic Wonderland for which he won an ASA science writing award. "A David Attenborough of the acoustic realm, whose knowledge is unimpeachable yet worn lightly, whose language is vivid yet without indulgence" (David Hendy Observer) He is fascinated by room acoustics and how places can be designed for intelligible speech (for example, classrooms) and beautiful music (for example, auditoria). His acoustic designs can be found in rooms worldwide. He is currently working on two major research projects. Making Sense of Sound is a big data project examining everyday sounds combing psychoacoustics and machine learning. The other project is investigating future technologies for spatial audio in the home. He currently holds the Guinness World record for producing the Longest Echo in one of the Inchindown Oil Tanks.

Panel Discussion: Why Sound Matters

This panel discussion will be chaired by Stephen Robinson, the Principal Research Scientist of the National Physics Laboratory.

After graduating as physicist, Stephen has gained over 27 years experience in underwater acoustic metrology as an acoustical scientist at NPL. He is the UK and international expert in his field and has well over 150 scientific publications to his name including papers in refereed journals, proceedings of conferences and technical reports. Stephen is a member of the Institute of Acoustics, and serves on the Underwater Acoustics Group of the IOA. In this capacity, he has co-organised several international conferences in the UK, and served on the organising committee of the IOA conference on Measurement of Underwater Acoustic Noise, October 2008.