b'CAREER PROFILEItwasan ambitious project by the propo-nentsandcemented(punintended)my interest in this field. The sheer scale of the project and the complexity of the modelling was fascinating, and the publics reaction, while predominantly negative, was equally influencing in my decision to specialize in the field of environmental acoustics. Q:Detail your past or ongoing education and how it is relevant to your job. Ididmyundergraduatedegreeinengi-neeringphysicsatQueensUniversity, originally thinking I would study materials. Once I started working however, I found the field of acoustics, noise and vibration was a perfect mix: it was very technically chal-lenging while not getting too bogged down in the abstract. While continuing working, I chose to do graduate studies in mechanical engineering,specializinginacoustics.My masters project work involved quite a bit of outdoor measurements to determine the impact of the ground (grass and soil) on the propagation of sound outdoors.Q:What do you find most challengingQ:Describe your typical day on the jobIvealwaysfocusedoncontinuing in your work?and how the work you do contributes toeducationand,foranumberofyears,I Alotofpeopleareconfusedbytheyour company.aimed to present at conferences. Im most field of acoustics, noise and vibration.The nice part of my job is that theres noproud of a presentation I did in New York Its not an intuitive field (we joke thattypical day. There are days Im out in theCity in 2012 on Haul Route Noise analysis. 2+2=5becauseitstrue:2dB+2dBisfield walking around taking measurements.Thesedays,Ispendabitmoretime 5dB). Its most challenging talking toThere are days Im in front the computerhelpingandteaching.IvehelpedOSSGA thepublic,whooftenhaveprecon- developingacousticmodelsandwritinginitsenvironmentalcommitteeoverthe ceived notions about noise. When youreports. There are days Im in meetings withyears,incoursesandpresentations,and try to explain to someone what 45 dBAproducers and planners. There are even daysevenorganizingtoursforMinistrystaff, sounds like, they often have no under- Im in court providing expert testimony atexplainingwhatacousticsisandhowit standing of what that means. Analogiesthe OMB/LPAT. These days, I work with aimpacts people.and metaphors only go so far. And noteam of engineers, so a lot of time is spentQ:Where do you see the industry going in matterhowhardyoutry,itsalwayson training them and involving them in mythe next few years?an uphill battle explaining to someoneprojects.how a piece of equipment thats veryWhats really great to see is the change in loudwhenyoustandnexttoit,canQ:Howdidyougetinterestedinthisequipment.LookingataCAT980Dvs. bequietwhenyourefarawayandfield/this work? a980H,thesoundlevelsaresignificantly shielded. I started my career in the field of generalquieter.Istillremembergoingoutto Imoftenviewedasabadguyenvironmentalengineeringatanenviron- measure my first tower-enclosed drill and becauseImtypicallyhiredbythemental consulting firm. I was fortunate tobeingamazedathow(relatively)quietit aggregate operator, but as a professionalquickly get into the area of acoustics, noisewas compared to older equipment.OEMs engineer, my duty is first and foremostand vibration and realized it was the perfectare seeing the benefit of quieter equipment to the public. I often try to explain tomix of technical and field work. When I laterand that only makes my job easier.peoplethatmyinterestisntmakingjoined Aercoustics in 07, I worked closelyThemostamazingchangeisadapting the site do anything they want, but towith my old bosses, who specialized in thetechnology. At our office, we still have files find a compromise that minimizes theaggregate field. One of my early and largestand reports of studies done for Blue Circle impact of the site as much as possible,projectswastheproposedMega-Quarry,Industriesinthe80s.Theworkwasall while also allowing its operation. whichkickedoffrightwhenIjoined.CONTINUED ON PAGE 24FALL 2019AVENUES 21'