Here you will find the Building a Career in Acoustics venue information, event schedule, speaker biographies and talk synopses.
Venue information
To join the Salford Acoustics laboratories tour, go to the Newton Building at the University of Salford, Salford (map below). Be in the foyer at 9am to meet Joshua Meggitt.
Bloc is located at 17 Marble St, Manchester M2 3AW. The map of the venue is shown below. The talks and panel discussion will be held in the Auditorium. You will register/sign in in the reception area to receive your name tag and registration pack. Throughout the day, food and drinks will be served in Meeting Room 1. Meeting Room 2 will be a quiet space for working and for one-on-one networking/meetings throughout the day. The social/networking event will be held in Meeting Rooms 1 and 2.
The entrance and reception are shown in aqua and the toilets are shown in neon yellow. To register, walk through to reception (G.20 Reception). The auditorium – marked as G.29 ‘Event space’ on the map – is on the top right of the map. The Trove cafe – G.29 ‘Eatery’ – is between the entrance and the auditorium. You will be able to use your coffee tokens here.
To access the meeting rooms for food/drink and quiet working or one-to-one networking/meetings, you will need to go through reception and through security gates; see the black arrow shown in the diagram. Meeting room 1 is marked as G.18 Meeting Room. Meeting room 2 is marked as G.17 Meeting Room.
Please note that when moving from the Auditorium/cafe/entrance to meeting rooms 1 and 2 you will be passing through a coworking space. It would be appreciated if you could keep the volume down.
A virtual tour of the venue is available here.
The WiFi details for Bloc are as follows: username, ‘Wifi Guest’, password, beourguest.
Schedule
- 9.00 Tour of University of Salford Acoustics Research Centre laboratories (optional)
- 10.30 to 11.00 registration with coffee, tea and pastries (Bloc Reception and Meeting Room 1)
- 11.00 Kirill Horoshenkov, opening address (Bloc Auditorium)
- 11.15-11.45 Speaker 1 Trevor Cox (Bloc Auditorium)
- 11.45-12.15 Speaker 2 Elly Martin (Bloc Auditorium)
- 12.15-12.45 Speaker 3 Jo Webb (Bloc Auditorium)
- 12.45-1.45 Lunch (Bloc Meeting Room 1)
- 1.45-2.15 Speaker 4 Antonio Torija Martinez (Bloc Auditorium)
- 2.15-2.45 Speaker 5 Robin Langley (Bloc Auditorium)
- 2.45-3.15 Speaker 6 Stephen Turner (Bloc Auditorium)
- 3.15-3.45 Speaker 7 Stefanie Edler-Wollstein (Bloc Auditorium)
- 3.45 Panel discussion (Bloc Auditorium)
- 4.15-5.15 Social/networking session with drinks and nibbles (Bloc Meeting Rooms 1 and 2)
Speaker biographies and synopses
Kirill Horoshenkov
Kirill is the Director of the UK Acoustics Network Plus (UKAN+) and Professor of Acoustics at The University of Sheffield. His research interests are in acoustic sensing, robotics and porous media. In addition to the UK Acoustics Network Plus, he also leads the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Programme Grant to develop robotic autonomous sensing for buried pipes (https://pipebots.ac.uk/). He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK Institute of Acoustics and Acoustical Society of America. He is a coordinating editor for the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. He is a founder of two successful spin-off companies that commercialised his research into acoustics sensing for sewer pipes (Acoustic Sensing Technology Ltd) and sustainable noise absorbing materials (now marketed by Armacell). He is a chartered engineer.
Trevor Cox
Trevor is Professor of Acoustic Engineering at the University of Salford and UKAN+ Lead for Outreach and Public Engagement. Trevor carries out research and teaching focussing on architectural acoustics, signal processing and audio perception. Trevor was an EPSRC Senior Media Fellow and has presented 25 science documentaries on BBC Radio, authored three features for New Scientist and written two popular science books (Sonic Wonderland and Now You’re Talking). He was given the IOA award for promoting acoustics to the public in 2009 and an ASA award for Science Writing in 2015. He has developed and presented science shows including at the Royal Albert Hall, Purcell Rooms and the Royal Institution.
Elly Martin
Dr Elly Martin is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and principal research fellow in the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, and a fellow at the Wellcome EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences, University College London, UK. Her research focuses on development of therapeutic uses of ultrasound for different applications including transcranial ultrasonic neuromodulation and thermal ablation of cancerous tumours, as well as investigating new uses of ultrasound, such as ultrasonic rewarming of biological materials after cryopreservation. A particular focus of her work generally is concerned with making quantitative comparisons between accurate hydrophone measurements and simulations of acoustic fields, alongside the development and characterisation of ultrasound devices, and measurement of the acoustic properties of materials.
Elly will talk about her career path in medical ultrasound from undergraduate physics degree to a research fellowship in academia via the NHS and the National Physical Laboratory. Over this time her research has evolved while working in different areas and engaging with academic, industrial, and clinical collaborators. She’ll cover some of the opportunities she has taken which have helped her to build a network in the research community, and opportunities to have impact where she works, which have helped her to build a varied CV.
Antonio Torija Martinez
Dr Antonio Torija Martinez is a Reader in Acoustical Engineering at the University, and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton. In 2010, he obtained his PhD in Environmental Acoustics from the University of Granada (Spain), and in 2012 he was awarded a prestigious Marie Curie EU Postdoctoral Fellowship. Dr Torija Martinez is an internationally recognised researcher with an excellent track record in the development of Perception-Driven Engineering tools to address noise issues of e-mobility and decarbonization. He has published widely in world-leading peer-reviewed journals, including Nature. Dr Torija Martinez has been Principal Investigator in several research grants funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK and Horizon Europe. He is a Human Response and Metrics expert in the NASA Urban Air Mobility Noise Working Group. He is member of the EPSRC Engineering Early Career Forum, and UKAN+ Early Career Champion in Manufacturing and Transport. He has received five awards for his excellent contributions to Acoustics, including the Andres Lara Award from the Spanish Society of Acoustics.
Antonio will talk about his experiences from the completion of his PhD studies until he achieved an academic position, with the hope of offering useful advice to early career researchers pursuing a career in academia.
Jo Webb
Jo Webb is currently a PhD student in the Acoustics Research Group at the University of Salford. Immediately prior to becoming a student again, she was a Technical Director in the Noise and Vibration section of Wood Group (now part of WSP) for four years. Jo worked with Arup from the millennium until moving to Wood, and prior to that for a variety of consultancy firms of all sizes, and for a local authority. Jo is a former President of the Institute of Acoustics, and has contributed to the Institute’s Membership and north-west branch committees, and to the Noise and Vibration Engineering Group.
She will speak about surviving and thriving in acoustics, touching on the ups and downs of working in a service industry, the rewards of public service, the fun to be had from hard work, and the importance of being able to phone a friend.
Robin Langley
Robin Langley is an Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Cambridge University Engineering Department, where he served for 13 years as the Head of the Division of Mechanics, Materials, and Design. He has previously worked at Cranfield University (1982-1991) and Southampton University (1991-1998) and he has collaborated with industry on the development of software for predicting vibro-acoustic performance, including VA One and most recently Wave6. This experience has included involvement in the formation and development of a start-up company in this area. He received the Doak Award in 2016 from the Journal of Sound and Vibration and the Rayleigh Medal in 2020 from the Institute of Acoustics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He retired from full time employment at the University of Cambridge in September 2022 but continues with aspects of research and consultancy.
Robin will share his perspectives on career development in academia and the software industry. The talk will cover aspects of his personal random walk through academia and the software industry and will highlight a number of lessons learned, with the hope of offering useful advice on career development to early or mid-career acoustical engineers.
Stephen Turner
Stephen Turner has been working in the field of Acoustics, noise and vibration management for over 45 years, his career spanning both the public and private sector. He holds a Masters degree in Engineering from King’s College, Cambridge and a Masters degree in Applied Acoustics from Chelsea College (now part of King’s College) University of London.
For over 15 years, he was a technical adviser to noise policy officials at the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) including 4 years as a civil servant. During this time he was closely involved in the development and implementation of noise management policy in England. He also represented the UK at European Commission Noise Regulatory Meetings and at technical meetings of the European Environment Agency.
He has prepared and presented expert evidence at Public Inquiries, Development Consent Order hearings and in litigation in both the Magistrates Court and Crown Court. He has also given evidence to a Parliamentary Select Committee.
Stephen is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Acoustics (IOA), an individual member of the European Commission’s Noise Expert Group and Chair of the British Standards Committee that deals with transportation noise. He has just been appointed to be a member of the UK’s Parliamentary and Scientific Committee and has just completed his two-year term as President of the IOA. He is now the Institute’s Immediate Past President.
Stephen will describe his career in Acoustics, including some of the projects he has worked on. He will also discuss some of the non-acoustic issues that acousticians may encounter during their career in terms of the skills to acquire, the type of company to work for and the decisions to be made in order to secure the greatest job satisfaction.
Stefanie Edler-Wollstein
Stefanie is a Consultant within the Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre (PFDC) at Imperial College London. She is an experienced and accredited Senior and Executive Leadership Coach. Having worked as a Researcher Developer in Higher Education institutions in the UK and internationally, she has extensive experience in designing and delivering professional development programmes and is truly passionate about supporting early career researchers with building the skills and the confidence to excel in their chosen career path. Stefanie brings a deep understanding of the Higher Education context and the nuances of its structures and processes. Specialising in enhancing leadership and management capability and a positive research environment, Stefanie leads on Imperial’s leadership development programme for Fellows and provides tailored coaching for groups and individuals at all career stages. As part of Imperial’s ‘Innovation and the Business of Science’ programme portfolio for The Royal Society, Stefanie has been invited to deliver sessions on leadership style, team dynamics, and effective communication for Royal Society Fellows.
Internationally, Stefanie promotes the career interests of early career researchers as a member of The League of European Research Universities (LERU) group, working on topics such as career structure, recruitment and progression, professional development, employability and destinations outside of academia.
Stefanie will focus on a question that she is often approached about by early career researchers: How do you take a more strategic approach in your career? Most people would agree that it can be tricky to know what to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to. In her talk, Stefanie will guide you through a structured process that can help you gain more clarity and allow you to identify next steps towards career progression and achieving your aspirations.