Dr Felipe Gaitan (USA)

PhD; Chief Scientific Officer, Impulse Devices, Inc.

Dr Gaitan is an experimental physicist with a 25-year history in acoustic cavitation and cavitation physics.
A native of Colombia, he attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he earned his B.S. in Physics. He received his doctorate in physics from the University of Mississippi under the direction of Professor Lawrence Crum.
In 1989, while still a graduate student at University of Mississippi, Dr Gaitan discovered single bubble sonoluminescence, creating a new field of study in physics. His discovery and research in this area are internationally recognized and he is widely published.
Dr Gaitan was elected as a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) in 1996. Following a PostDoc at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, Dr Gaitan has held research positions at the National Center for Physical Acoustics at the University of Mississippi and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
In 1999, Dr Gaitan joined Impulse Devices, Inc. in Grass Valley, California to pursue research into acoustic inertial confinement fusion (acoustic ICF), an alternative approach to producing "hot" fusion energy. This research is continuing at Impulse Devices, where Dr Gaitan is currently Chief Scientific Officer. Most recently, selected research results are set forth in Dr Gaitan’s article, "Transient cavitation in high-quality-factor resonators at high static pressures" scheduled for publication in the July 2010 issue of The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

Trevor Nightingale (CANADA)

Trevor Nightingale is a Senior Research Officer and the Group Leader of the Acoustics Laboratory in the Institute for Research in Construction at the National Research Council of Canada. His undergraduate degree in physics was received in 1987 from the University of British Columbia (Canada). His doctorate in engineering, obtained at Heriot Watt University (United Kingdom) in 1990, examined modelling acoustic diffraction of sound around multiple 3-D objects.
After a brief period as consulting engineer, he joined the National Research Council in Ottawa, Canada, in 1992. His research has concentrated on the control of airborne and impact noise in wood framed multi-family construction. It began with constructing the first “flanking facility” at the National Research Council, and developing test methods necessary to characterise the many complex transmission paths in platform framed construction. The several extensive industry-sponsored projects that followed revealed the key construction details affecting sound transmission, and showed the most effective sound control methods. In 2006, this work culminated in a best practice guide for sound insulation in North American wood frame construction, co-authored with his colleagues.
In 2005, he and his colleagues created a new flanking facility to more effectively study low frequency impact sound in wood framed constructions – his current interest.
In addition, to experimental work, he has examined methods to predict flanking transmission using semi-empirical, statistical, and analytic methods, often involving collaborators from many countries.
He has over 100 publications on sound insulation in buildings. He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America, Canadian Acoustical Association, Institute of Noise Control Engineering, and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Building Acoustics. He participates in standards activity through ASTM as sub-committee chairman, and ISO as a member of several working groups.

Peter Rogers (UK)

Please note that Peter will be joining us via video
With over 15 years experience in Acoustics and Environmental Noise Control Peter is now a consultant with Cole Jarman and a Trustee of the Institute of Acoustics, currently a serving member on the Council, UK. He has also served on the Building Acoustics Group as Secretary and now Chairman as for the last 5 years.
His particular area of interest is in leading and developing sustainable acoustics, and is leading the Institutes UK members and Cole Jarman in efforts to define exactly what is meant by this. He often writes articles on the subject within the construction press in the UK and institute bulletin that summarises the challenge as “providing enhanced living environments through excellent acoustic design, and a positive legacy through the work that we do”. At Euronoise 2009 in Edinburgh Peter authored a joint paper with Richard Cowell of ARUP entitled Sustainable Acoustics – Survive & Revive.
He began his career as a Noise Control Officer in a Local Authority in South Wales, and has taken this experience to deepen his understanding of noise nuisance and the importance of positive sound in our lives.
He also recently became a bee keeper, in an effort to assist in some small way to save practice what we preach through looking after our natural wealth and in the process save a sound of the summer.

Associate Professor Dr Carol Boyle

BSc(Hon.), MEnvDes., PhD (Engineering), FIPENZ
Director, International Centre for Sustainability Engineering and Research, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Auckland
Associate Professor Dr Boyle has been working in the field of sustainability engineering for the past 13 years, both as a researcher and a lecturer at the University of Auckland. Her main research focus is on understanding and applying the science and engineering needed to achieve sustainability. Together with her postgraduate students, she is currently working with a number of companies including Formway Furniture Ltd., Actronic Ltd. and Fisher&Paykel Ltd. to move their products towards sustainability. Other research is focusing on developing sustainable infrastructure and sustainable communities. She has been a member of the Engineering Practice Board of IPENZ since 2006 and is working with IPENZ on a review of the Sustainability Action Plan for IPENZ. She received a Fellowship from IPENZ in 2009 for her research and work on sustainability engineering. Currently she is the Chair of the New Zealand Society for Sustainability Engineering and Science and has chaired the three International Conferences on Sustainability Engineering and Science held in Auckland in 2004, 2007 and 2008, with another planned for December, 2010.

Professor Peter Thorne

Professor Peter Thorne holds a personal chair in Audiology at the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland and has an adjunct position in the Department of Physiology. He completed his PhD at the University of Auckland and post-doctoral studies at the University of Auckland and at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan. His research is in the area of sensory neurobiology particularly inner ear homeostasis and the influence of noise exposure and aging on hearing. He has published widely in international audiology and neuroscience journals and is on the editorial board of several international hearing journals. Professor Thorne works substantially with the deaf and hearing impaired communities. He has been a strong advocate for the introduction of Newborn Hearing Screening in New Zealand. He is the leader of Project HIEDI (Hearing Impairment and Early Detection and Intervention), a community advocacy group set up to campaign for the introduction of a national newborn hearing screening and early intervention programme in New Zealand and is currently the Chair of the National Screening Unit’s Implementation Advisory Group advising on the implementation of newborn hearing screening in New Zealand. He is the Chairman of the National Foundation for the Deaf and is on the Board of the Deafness Research Foundation and Auckland Medical Research Foundation. He was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2010 for services to Auditory Neuroscience.

Rohan Bush

Business Development Manager, NZGBC
Rohan is the Business Development Manager for the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC). Her role includes identifying new opportunities to accelerate the development and adoption of market-based green building practices. She has previously been the Green Star Manager with the NZGBC where she oversaw the development of the rating tools for offices, education facilities and industrial buildings, and managed the technical and strategic direction of the Green Star NZ system.
Her background includes qualifications in Architecture, Building Science and Political Studies. Prior to joining the NZGBC she worked as a Senior Project Manager for Sustainability Victoria in Australia on sustainable buildings, renewable energy policy and energy efficiency programs.