Leo Beranek Student Medal for Excellence in the Study of Noise Control

Awarded by the Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the United States of America (INCE/USA)

Established with the INCE Foundation
To Support Education in Noise Control Engineering

Background for the Beranek Student Medal

This special Medal was established by the Board of Directors of INCE/USA on 2010 October 24 to recognize excellence in the study of noise-control by undergraduate and graduate students at academic institutions in North America that have courses in, or related to, noise-control engineering including practical applications.

Student contributions to the betterment of techniques for the control of noise in buildings, vehicles and outdoors, and of means for reducing noise produced by any loud source is readily sought and will now be recognized by this Student Medal. I am proud to be namesake for this important student award.  Leo Beranek

Nomination and selection process

Candidates for the Beranek Student Medal are selected by their academic institution and nominated by a member of the faculty.  An institution may submit up to two nominations per calendar year, one for a student who graduated (or will be graduating) with a baccalaureate degree and one for a student who graduated (or will be graduating) with a graduate degree.  The INCE/USA Vice President for Student Activities and Education together with a Student Activities Committee established by the VP will review nominations and select awardees based on documented evidence of excellence in the study of noise-control as submitted by the nominating faculty member.

Institution and Nomination Forms will be accepted for the 2011-2012 academic year after the NOISE-CON 2011 conference in Portland, Oregon.  

Forms

Two Forms for nominating a candidate for the Beranek Student Medal are available from the INCE Business Office (IBO).

One form is the Institution Form that is to be submitted to establish the courses in, or related to, noise control that are offered by the Academic Institution wishing to nominate a candidate.  The Institution Form is required only once and may be updated when necessary.

The other form is the Nomination Form that is required for each candidate.

The Forms are to be prepared by the nominating faculty member and are to be submitted to the IBO.

Awarding the Beranek Student Medal

Awardees will be invited, but not required, to attend a NOISE-CON Conference or an INTER-NOISE Congress in North America to receive the Award.  Alternatively, Awards may be presented at an Awardees’ institution (such as at the graduation ceremony, or other school function), if requested by the nominating faculty member.  In the latter case, an appropriate announcement will be made at the NOISE-CON or INTER-NOISE meeting.  Photographs of Awardees and a description of their project or thesis will be included in an issue of Noise/News International.

Adventures in Noise Control Engineering

Noise control has been an important part of my life as evidenced by my various books on noise reduction and noise and vibration control. I designed the world’s largest muffler that reduced incredibly loud noise and vibration from the test setup for supersonic jet engines at the Cleveland NASA Flight Propulsion Laboratory. This was followed by my participation in the setting of limits to noise produced by jet-propelled aircraft in neighborhoods around JFK Airport in New York. A major effort of mine was devising charts and procedures for determining acceptable noise levels in indoor spaces—offices, living quarters, schools, hospitals, and so forth. Another area that I undertook early on was the reduction of noise in heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems. I tell the stories of these efforts in my autobiography, Riding The Waves (MIT Press, 2008). Leo Beranek

Additional information about Leo Beranek is available at the below links.

http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/5191.html
http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Oral-History:Leo_Beranek_%281996%29