PREPARED FOR NOISE/NEWS INTERNATIONAL, 2002 JUNE.
The Australian Acoustical Society (AAS) grew out of meetings with interested people in Sydney, New South Wales, and Melbourne, Victoria in 1964. Committees were elected, and the process of drawing up a Memorandum and Articles of Association began – together with the formalization of the qualifications and experience required for different grades of society membership. In 1971, the Australian Acoustical Society was incorporated in the State of New South Wales as a company limited by guarantee.
The Society’s main aim is to promote and advance the science and practice of acoustics in all of its branches and to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas.
The AAS, like Australia itself, is organized along federal lines: Divisions at present exist in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, West Australia, South Australia, and Queensland. The Divisions are governed by elected committees from each of which two members are chosen to be members of the Federal Council. The Federal Council has overall control of the Society.
The total membership of the society is over 400. There are several distinct grades of membership – Fellows and Members are individuals with formal academic qualifications and at least two years of verified professional experience in some field of acoustics; these are the Corporate members of the Society and must comprise at least 60% of the total membership. Graduate member grade is applicable for those with formal qualifications but insufficient practical experience. Associate members are individuals with technical qualifications and substantial practical experience in a branch of acoustics. Others with a genuine interest in acoustics, but not possessing relevant professional or technical qualifications, may join the Society as Subscribing Members. The Student grade is available for those in the process of obtaining training at either the professional or technical level in some branch of acoustics. Finally, Sustaining Members are individuals or organizations who actively support the Society.
Each Division organizes several technical meetings each year – usually in the form of lectures or technical site visits. Overseas guests are most welcome to join in the Society’s activities if they are visiting Australia. The Annual Conference of the Society is organized by each Division in turn, and generally extends over two days. The Conference Proceedings are published, and papers are presented on of the wide range of topics including noise control, legislation, standards and criteria, community noise, measurement techniques, musical acoustics, vibration and underwater acoustics. The Presidents Prize is awarded for the best paper presented at the conference. Awards for excellence in acoustics, which may be sponsored by the industry, may also be presented during the annual conference.
Acoustics Australia is published three times a year This journal comprises general technical articles in all areas of acoustics, together with relevant news and views. Review papers, covering particular fields of acoustics and addressed to a non-specialist acoustics readership, as well as papers of a tutorial nature dealing with important acoustical principles or techniques are most welcome. Acoustics Australia does not aim to be a primary scientific journal, and therefore does not normally publish primary research papers, with the exception of those that apply specifically to Australia.
The Society is represented on the various acoustical standards drafting committees of Standards Australia, and several of its members are involved with the standards drafting groups of the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission. It also has active membership on various IINCE Technical Working Groups.
The Australian Acoustical Society is a member of the International Commission on Acoustics, and hosted the 10th ICA in Sydney in 1980. The AAS is, of course, a member society of the International Institute of Noise Control Engineering, and was pleased to organize INTER-NOISE 91 in Sydney in 1991. The Society is also a member of WESPAC and hosted WESPAC 4 in Brisbane in 1991. Planning is underway for WESPAC 8 to be held in Melbourne in 2003.
Information about all aspects of the operation of the Society can be found on the webpage www.acoustics.asn.au