Council is the governing body of the Institute and meets four times a year. Council comprises the members of Executive committee, three Vice Presidents (Groups Branches, International Affairs and Engineering Division) and nine elected ordinary members. In addition, there are two young members’ representatives who serve overlapping two year terms. The chairmen of the committees are also invited to attend Council meetings to provide reports of their areas of activity. The period of time that anyone can serve on Council is limited and elections take place at the Annual General Meeting. We seek to ensure that there is as wide as possible representation on Council, but if you feel that your area of acoustics does not have a voice, why not consider standing for election?
Council members 2022/2023
President – Alistair Somerville
Alistair has a professional background in Environmental Health and developed a special interest in acoustics whilst working in Edinburgh Council’s Noise Team. He joined our Institute as an Associate in 1984, became a Corporate Member in 1988 and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in 2016. He is also the 2002 Past-President of the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland.
In Environmental Health he has managed the Noise, Planning, Food Safety, Health & Safety and Private Rented Services functions. As a part-time lecturer at Heriot Watt University he wrote and delivered their MSc Environmental Noise & Vibration module and delivered Acoustics modules for Mechanical and Building Services Engineering degrees.
He set up the first Scottish IOA Diploma Distance Learning Centre and brought the Environmental Noise Measurement Certificate course to Scotland.
Since 2013 he has operated as a self-employed acoustic consultant and lecturer/trainer. Outside of acoustics, he enjoys golf and ‘fiddling’ on guitar.
Immediate Past President – Stephen Turner
Stephen has worked in the field of acoustics, noise and vibration for over 42 years in both the public and private sector. He has worked on a wide range of environmental and building acoustics projects, including noise from aviation, highways, railways and construction. He has prepared and presented evidence for Public Inquiries, litigation and Parliamentary Select Committees. For 15 years he was a technical advisor to the noise policy officials at Defra and its predecessors, including four years as a Civil Servant until 2015. Work included providing technical input to a wide range of specific and strategic policy issues, including briefing Ministers, liaising with Other Government Departments, Local Authorities, the European Commission and the European Environment Agency. In addition, he had a close involvement in the drafting of the Noise Policy Statement for England (NPSE); the noise elements of National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), and the Planning Practice Guidance on noise (PPG(N). More recently, he has been mainly involved in providing independent peer review for major infrastructure projects and Government research. He is a member of the European Commission’s Noise Expert Group and the European Environment Agency’s Expert Panel on Noise. He sits on several British Standards Committees and chairs the BSI committee on transportation noise. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute and a Director of Stephen Turner Acoustics Limited.
President Elect - Prof David Waddington
David is Professor in Acoustics at the University of Salford. His main research interests are the objective and subjective evaluation of noise and vibration, and environmental acoustics. For many years he was the programme leader for Salford MSc in Environmental Acoustics, member of the Examination Committee for the Institute of Acoustics Diploma in Acoustics and Noise Control, and the expert examiner for the Environmental Noise Measurement, Prediction and Control specialist module. From March 2019 to August 2021, David held the senior management role of Associate Dean Enterprise and Engagement in the School of Science, Engineering and Environment at the University of Salford. He believes that by pioneering exceptional industry partnerships, real world experiences will prepare students for life. David has written over 85 papers on noise and vibration and is well known for assembling large collaborative teams for large-scale field work projects, human response to vibration and sound, and his expert presentations on the effects of weather and uncertainty on environmental noise measurements. He has been a Member of the Acoustics Society of America (MASA) and a Member of the Institute of Acoustics (MIOA) for more than 30 years.
Honorary Secretary – Fiona Rogerson
Fiona is a Senior Acoustic Consultant with Arup in their Midlands’ office. Prior to joining Arup in 2017, she was a Principal Consultant at Atkins, where she managed the Birmingham team. Fiona’s focus is on environmental acoustics with a particular interest in road and rail but her experience includes a wide range of acoustics projects including industrial, mixed use development and building acoustics. Fiona has a strong interest in people and their development. She is currently mentoring champion for the Arup Acoustics team and earlier on in her career she took time out to become a secondary school Physics teacher for a number of years.
Fiona has been a member of the IOA Midlands Branch committee since 2013, becoming Secretary in 2014 and Chair in 2018. Fiona joined the IOA Executive committee in 2020 as Honorary Secretary.
Honorary Treasurer - Dr Martin Lester
Martin studied Acoustics within a Degree in Applied Physics at Liverpool Poly between ‘81 and ’85, undertook research in acoustics between ’85 and ’88, and Post-Doc research at Liverpool Uni in ’89. Since then I’ve been involved in Acoustics Consultancy including SRL, NES, RPS and as Lester Acoustics (since 2000), being based in Northern Ireland since 1997.
Within the IOA, I gained Membership of IOA in ’88, and was on the North-West Branch Committee between roughly 1986-97 (including the role of Honorary Treasurer for a while). During this time I also assisted with registration, minibus driving, and projector operator at many of the IOA one day and larger conferences. In ’97 I became a Registered Chartered Engineer through the IOA
Vice President Groups and Branches - Hilary Notley
Hilary has spent 25yrs working in acoustics as a Civil Servant. She initially worked within the Noise and Vibration Division at the Royal Air Force Centre for Aviation Medicine. In her time with the RAF, Hilary gained the Institute of Acoustics Post-Graduate Diploma in Acoustics and Noise Control, followed by an MSc and her responsibilities ranged from health and safety noise and vibration assessments to protect RAF and MOD personnel through to environmental impact and nuisance assessments of training and base activities on neighbours. Hilary then moved to the Noise and Statutory Nuisance Evidence Team at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where her main responsibilities are to develop a robust evidence base to support the policy team and the implementation of the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006 (as amended), which involves the development of a national noise modelling system for road and rail infrastructure. Hilary is a member of 3 BSi and 2 ISO committees. She is a Fellow of the IOA and served on many IOA groups and committees, previously chairing the Meetings Committee. As well as Council, she currently sits on the recently formed Sound, Noise and Health Group and the Research Co-ordination Committee. She is also a member of the UK Acoustics Network Advisory Board and sits on the steering group of several research projects.
Vice President Engineering – James Hill
James graduated from the University of Salford with a BSc in Acoustics in 2008. He spent 11 years as an acoustic specialist at AAF Ltd working in Power Generation, Oil and Gas and Environmental noise. In 2020 James moved to Apex Acoustics to take up a consultancy role. He has published journal and conference papers in his specialist area of duct acoustics. James has sat on both the publication and engineering committees before more recently becoming Chair of the Engineering Committee and an IOA diploma examiner for the NVCE module.
Vice President International – Dr Paul Lepper
Paul is a Reader at Loughborough University specializing in under water acoustics and marine and terrestrial bio-acoustics with over 30 years’ experience of research into the physical and biological aspects of underwater acoustics in particular potential impacts from underwater sound for a wide range of industries including offshore renewables, aquaculture, etc. This has included studies on the hearing and behavioural response of marine mammals and fish as well as source characterisation, sound field measurement and acoustic modelling. Current research areas include noise and mitigation from UXO clearance operations and use of aerial drone technology in marine impact assessment including underwater acoustics. He heads up underwater acoustics research at Loughborough University. He is a member of the IOA's Underwater Acoustic Group and has served on and off of Council since 2014. He is currently Vice President International for Council and General Secretary of the European Acoustical Association (EAA).
Ordinary Members
Prof Chris Barlow
Chris is Professor of Acoustics in the School of Media Arts and Technology at Solent University, Southampton, and led the development of acoustics as a new discipline at Solent. Having originally worked in the music industry as a recording engineer, he moved into Acoustics for a PhD in voice analysis. He has worked in the university sector for 20 years teaching and researching audio engineering and acoustics, most recently focusing on soundscaping and immersive audio. He is also a Director of Positive Acoustics Ltd, an independent acoustics consultancy. Chris has been a member of the IoA Southern Branch committee since 2014 and a member of IoA Council since 2019. He is currently the chair of the IoA Education and Learning working group. He is also chair of the Audio Engineering Society South of England Group and has previously served on the AES UK executive committee.
Daniel Goodhand
Daniel is owner of Goodhand Acoustics and has around 19 years' experience consulting in sound, acoustics, noise and Vibration. Daniel has worked as a consultant throughout his career starting at RPS and then moving to Anderson Acoustics before forming his own consultancy practice in 2012.
Daniel has worked on a wide range of projects involving noise from railways, roads, airports, festivals and factories. Daniel has given expert evidence at various hearings including a public inquiry. Daniel graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Music, Acoustics and Recording and joined the IOA shortly after graduation.
Daniel also serves the IOA as chair of the Publications Committee and sits on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working group. Daniel is additionally involved with the Association of Noise Consultants after Goodhand Acoustics became a member company in 2018.
Angela Lamacraft
Angela is an acoustic consultant, mainly specialising in environmental and industrial acoustics within the retail, commercial and residential sectors. She has also project managed acoustics projects and multi-disciplinary ones. Angela has worked on very small projects (such as preparation of Noise Impact Assessments for single dwellings) and very large ones (such as providing construction noise and vibration advice for aspects of national infrastructure projects). She states that some of the most interesting projects she has worked on include prediction of vibration from mining activities; noise from a hydropower scheme in the river Thames; and large mixed-use developments in challenging environments.
Angela is passionate about helping the IOA stay relevant to members, believing that we all benefit from the unique ideas that a diverse active membership brings. As a working mum she is also keen to explore ways the IOA can help working parents find a good balance between their home life and their career.
Reena Mahtani
Reena is a Senior Engineer at Sandy Brown Associates in London. She has a background in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain and an MSc in Environmental Acoustics from the University of Salford. Reena has over 10 years of experience in acoustics. Her career started with a short stint in Singapore, mostly focused on building acoustics. On her return to the UK, she has worked on acoustic design of different types of spaces, environmental and construction noise and vibration assessments, occupational noise and vibration, noise control and sound insulation testing.
Her specialisms are residential buildings and schools and has a particular interest on the study and application of soundscapes. She is also the Secretary of the Southern Branch of the IOA, a member of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) and an Incorporated Engineer (IEng).
Mr Jim McIntyre
Jim is a Fellow of the IoA (and Chartered EHO). He is the Noise Control Lead within the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), technical advisor to the Scottish Government, and has undertaken extensive expert technical committee work on environmental noise with both BSI and ISO over the last 20 years. Jim has also helped deliver the IoA Certificate of Competence courses on Environmental Noise Assessment and Anti-Social Behaviour.
Jim started his professional career as a Local Authority Environmental Health Officer before securing a post with SEPA (joining their specialist Process Engineering Unit in 2000). Currently he leads a team of 14 specialist [noise] Officers, working closely with other regulatory bodies (Environment Agencies, Government, Local Authority, HSE), to provide our Agency Management Team with a strategic overview of regulatory performance, and advise on how we can best aim to improve and adapt until they are recognised as a ‘centre for excellence’ for industrial noise control.
In his role as a member of Council Jim hopes to:
- encourage more acousticians, including those working in regulatory roles, to join the Institute;
- promote the importance of good practice guidance to reduce the impact of environmental noise on people and environment - making our communities better places to live;
- support the IoA in continuing to raise the profile of acoustics with the public and decision makers across the country;
- play an active role, help with good governance, and (where he can) promote the wider educational goals of the Institute.
Dr Yuyou Liu
Yuyou is a Chartered Acoustic Engineer with 20 years’ consulting and research experience working in the UK, Europe, and South East Asia. He obtained a PhD from the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) in 2004 and started working in acoustics consultancy. He has broad experience in environmental acoustics, building acoustics and vibration control, and has a successful track record in the roles of applied researcher, acoustic consultant, expert technical adviser and certified project manager. His recent interest and expertise are infrastructure acoustics.
Yuyou has been an active member of IOA since 2003 and has previously served the Measurement and Instrumentation Committee for 3 years. He is a member of the Membership Steering Committee of the Association of Noise Consultants (ANC). He is a a recognised author and reviewer of several international renowned acoustic journals including the Journal of Sound and Vibration.
Richard Perkins
Richard is a Technical Director and global technical lead at Mott MacDonald, a multi-disciplinary consultancy working in environmental and building acoustics. He started his career at an attenuator company, and then set up an acoustics team at Parsons Brinckerhoff (now part of WSP). Richard has previously served on Council as Vice President Engineering from 2010 to 2016 and is now the longest serving member on the Engineering Committee. He also served for a number of years on the IOA Southwest branch committee and sits on BSI EH1/3 committee representing the IOA.
During his previous time on Council, as well as championing engineering, he was responsible for putting the group together who produced the Good Practice Guide to wind turbine noise assessment, coordinating the stakeholder engagement with Government and stakeholder groups which delivered robust guidance that remains in force today, and setting the blueprint for other IOA initiatives that have followed, e.g. the ProPG.
Richard brings a blend of commercial and Government experience, including having been the Noise Research Manager at Defra from 2003 to 2012, and working as expert witness and advisor to many local authorities on a range of projects.
A long time supporter of the IOA Richard is passionate about encouraging professional development and enabling the provision of CPD to deliver the acoustics leaders of tomorrow.
Peter Rogers
Peter has 30 years’ experience working in the field of acoustics, which began in local authority but has largely been in consultancy. He has worked in multi-disciplinary and now currently owns and is the Managing Director of Sustainable Acoustics Limited, which is a medium sized consultancy which strives to use acoustics to improve life. He has delivered specialist advice to public bodies, including Defra. Peter specialises in building and environmental acoustics, involved in a wide variety of projects form schools to studio design. He also acts as an expert witness in a range of cases. Peter’s first degree was in Physic with Medical Physics from the University of Cardiff, with a Masters degree from London South Bank. Peter’s interests are currently expanding into soundscape, which he considered to be an emerging area that will assist sustainable living into the future. Peter is the chair of the Parliamentary Liaison Group, active in raising the profile of acoustics amongst members of both houses. He also lead the Sustainable Design Task Force and currently sits on a number of working groups interested in sustainability and acoustics , and also is a member of Meetings Committee and Southern Branch Committee.
Matt Torjussen
Matt is experienced in a variety of fields of acoustics, including: buildings; machinery; product design; energy; environment; transport; and instrumentation. He has a master’s degree from the ISVR and is a Chartered Engineer.
As an Ordinary member of Council Matt wants to champion professional development and push to make this more accessible to the membership. This includes encouraging the right blend of in-person and online meetings, as well as facilitating hybrid events where possible.
He is also passionate about advancing the role of acoustics in society. It is his belief that through proactive engagement with policymakers, industry leaders, and the public, the positive impact of the acoustics profession can be strengthened on both local and global scales. He is keen for the IoA to build stronger connections with national and local government, as well as other professional bodies, such as the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and the Royal Town Planning Institute.
Chair: Ben Mosely
education
ioa.org.uk (Contact Us)
The Education Committee is responsible for determining and managing the Institute’s education policy and developing and promoting acoustics, and acoustics-related education and training for members and others.
Central to the Committee’s work are the Diploma in Acoustics and Noise Control and four Certificate of Competence courses (i.e. Environmental Noise Measurement; Management of Occupational Exposure to Hand Arm Vibration; Workplace Noise Risk Assessment and Building Acoustics Measurement).
The Committee oversees the content, delivery and assessments of the above through the accreditation of centres delivering the courses; the appointment of examiners, the organisation of examinations; the preparation and moderation of all examination assessments; the moderation of the students’ assessed work; and the preparation and publication of examination results.
With the help of the Diploma Tutors and Examiners sub-committee, the Education Committee oversees the administration of the tutored distance-learning study version of the Diploma, including the preparation of the study notes and the accreditation of the centre delivering the practical work programme. The majority of distance-learning students are from the UK but an increasing number are from overseas.
The Committee also works to create and validate training programmes to meet specific needs. An example would be “The Certificate of Proficiency in Anti-Social Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 - Noise Measurements” which is currently providing training for Local Authorities in Scotland.
The membership of the Education Committee
The Chairman of Education Committee is appointed by Council.
Ex-officio Committee members are: the Institute’s President; the President Elect; the Education Manager; and the Chief Executive may attend.
The chairs of the committees responsible for Certificates of Competence* are also ex-officio members.
* These appointments require ratification by Council.
The IOA's Education Committee may co-opt corporate members to achieve a representative balance between education, industry and consultancy and to fulfil ad hoc specific, fixed term tasks.
Chair: Mr James Hill MIOA
acousticsengineeringioa.org.uk (Contact Us)
The Engineering Division Committee’s purpose is to promote professional engineering within the Institute of Acoustics and advise the Council on all engineering matters, to put forward members for registration in the Chartered Engineer and Incorporated Engineer sections of the Engineering Council Register, and to act as a forum for co-ordinating the activities of the Institute of particular interest to engineering.
With authority delegated by the Council of the Institute, it acts directly and independently on Engineering Council registration matters to ensure that the principles relating to registration in UK-SPEC are implemented and to establish and maintain criteria to be met by members of the Institute applying for registration as Chartered Engineer or Incorporated Engineer.
A generation ago, acoustics engineering specialists came from the ranks of the other professional engineering institutions - IEE, IMechE and ICE - or from a physics background. Over the past 20 years, more than one thousand acoustical engineering graduates have been educated at Southampton and Salford universities, many of whom are now employed in acoustical engineering throughout the world.
Professional engineering is important as a sector within IOA and acoustics engineers have an important role to play within the field of engineering, with its increasing interests in the environment, human-machine interaction and safety. The IOA believes that professional acoustics engineers are now recognised by industry and society in their own right as valued specialists and that it is in all parties' interests that they be recognised within the engineering profession by Engineering Council registration.
Although its small size limits the scale of contribution which IOA can make to the wide spectrum of professional activities associated with the Engineering Council, the Engineering and Technology Board and the other engineering institutions, the opportunity to be involved in such initiatives is highly valued and where specialist contributions are needed, the Institute will take a proactive role.
Chair: Stephen Turner Hon FIOA
ioaioa.org.uk (Contact Us)
The Executive Committee is set up to provide an effective liaison between the Council and the management services of the Institute. With the approval of the Council it will: 1. Formulate proposals for policy and action relating to the managerial and financial activities of the Institute for presentation to the Council. 2. Monitor the implementation of the policy decisions of the Council, review the management accounts to ensure that the operations remain on budget and ensure that corrective actions are taken so that operations remain within budget. 3. Take executive action on any matter considered too urgent to await consideration at the next regular or extraordinary Council meeting. Such action will be formally reported to Council at its subsequent meeting. 4. Appoint the Chief Executive / Secretary of the Institute and agree the remuneration and conditions of employment of the Secretariat. 5. Within the budget approved by Council and on recommendation from the appropriate subcommittees confirm the appointment of personnel to paid posts within the Institute; agree their remuneration and the granting of Honoraria for services provided. Members of the Executive: (As of May 2020) Mr S Turner HonFIOA (President) Mr A Somerville HonFIOA (President Elect) Prof B Gibbs FIOA (Immediate Past-President) Ms F Rogerson MIOA (Hon Secretary) Dr M Lester HonFIOA (Hon Treasurer) Mr A Chesney, Chief Executive
Chair: Stephen Turner Hon FIOA
ioaioa.org.uk (Contact Us)
The Institute of Acoustics annually honours people whose contributions to acoustics or to the Institute have been particularly noteworthy.
The medals and awards programme has evolved over the years and is wide ranging in its acknowledgment of academic achievement, practical engineering applications and innovations, student achievement and contributions to the Institute and to the world of science and technology.
It is overseen on behalf of Council by the Medals and Awards Committee, which is chaired by the President. Nominations may be made at any time either on standard forms available through the Institute's office or by writing direct to the President.
Chair: Chris Turner
meetingsioa [dot] org [dot] uk (Contact Us)
The Meetings Committee meets four times a year. Its main purposes are to plan and preside over the framework of workshops, meetings and conferences that are organised by the Institute of Acoustics’ Secretariat and oversee the annual programme of these events.
The Committee seeks to ensure that the range and subject matter of events is suitably balanced across all members’ areas of interest and that the quality of meetings and venues is high. Feedback from meeting questionnaires (filled in by attendees) is reviewed and acted upon.
The Committee also considers strategic issues such as meeting fees, guidelines for meeting organisers, etc with a view to offering proposals for Council approval.
The annual programme of meetings provides significant revenue for the Institute. The Committee monitors the financial performance of meetings and reviews progress against annual targets.
A significant proportion of the impetus for meetings originates from enthusiastic members of the Groups and Branches. The Committee seeks to encourage and facilitate this process, alongside the great support provided to the meeting organisers by the Institute Secretariat.
Chair: Mr Paul Shields FIOA
membershipioa.org.uk (Contact Us)
The main activity is looking at all applications for membership, making recommendations to Council for the election of corporate members (FIOA and MIOA) and approving the election of non-corporate members (AMIOA, TechIOA, Affiliates and Students) and Sponsor members.
Complaints under the Institute's Code of Conduct are investigated, and recommendations to Council are made if the complaint is upheld and penalties against the member concerned may be appropriate.
The Committee oversees matters concerning Continuing Professional Development both for individual members and in relation to any such scheme operated by employers. Liaison is maintained with the Engineering Division Committee in respect of granting Chartered and Incorporated Engineer status.
Publications
Chair: Mr Daniel Goodhand MIOA
publicationsioa.org.uk (Contact Us)
The Publications Committee has responsibility for all publications that are produced by the IOA, including:
- Acoustics Bulletin
- Proceedings
- IOA website
- Members Register
- Buyers' Guide
- E-newsletter
Chair: Prof Stephen Dance, London South Bank University
Contact: danceslsbu.ac.uk (dances[at]lsbu[dot]ac[dot]uk)
Mission and activities
The mission of the committee is to ‘improve the status and awareness of acoustics research in the UK and to improve communications between researchers’. The Committee meets twice a year to discuss various research matters. These matters include, but are not limited to, the following items:
- monitoring and improving the national status of acoustics as an academic discipline and research area;
- investigating possibilities for a more coordinated approach by Institute members to Research Councils and other funding bodies both within and outside the UK;
- encouraging the formation of research networks (e.g. EPSRC UK Acoustics Network) in acoustics both within and outside the UK;
- ensuring regular (at least annual) interaction between the Institute, Research Councils, Defra, PHE and Innovate UK including advice on the extent and location of UK acoustic research;
- advising and reporting to Council on any matters relating to research activities in acoustics that impact on the Institute's activities.
The Committee has a 2-tier membership structure. There is a core group (tier 1) of Committee members. The names of tier 1 members appear on the attendance list. These members attend regularly the committee meetings and contribute systematically to the operation of the RCC. Tier 2 members are those members of the Institute who play a role in this Committee and can be invited to attend some meetings of this Committee to assist with various matters which require additional acoustics and acoustics-related expertise. Tier 2 membership can be more appropriate for younger members, those members who are not based in the UK and other IOA members who cannot regularly attend the RCC meetings.
Tier 1 Committee Members
Chair - Professor Stephen Dance FIOA
Dr Andrew Bullmore MIOA
Dr Jordan Cheer MIOA
Dr Alan Curtis MIOA
Tom Galikowski MIOA
Dr Jonathan Hargreaves MIOA
Dr Anton Krynkin MIOA
Ms Lisa Lavia AMIOA
Josie Nixon MIOA
Hilary Notley MIOA
Dr Georgia Rodgers MIOA
Jenefer Taylor MIOA
Dr Duncan P Williams MIOA