IEEE publication – now in print

Great to have our work highlighted by Shannon Chance in her latest blog  about  the IEEE  Transactions on Education Special Issue on Increasing the Socio-Cultural Diversity of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Related Fields (for us that means audio engineering! 

quote: 

Kat Young and colleagues have assessed participation in audio engineering conferences, a field that remains strongly male-dominated. Their work provides a new tool for determining the gender of participants who do not report their own data, such as in cases where they are listed as authors in various publications and conference proceedings. The techniques presented in this paper consider that not all individuals identify in a binary way. As such, this manuscript contributes new knowledge related to LGTBQ+ and how to determine what gender an author would ascribe to their self in instances where they have not been asked to provide that data. The team analyzed four aspects of data from 20 conferences—looking at conference topic, presentation type, position in the author byline, and the number of authors involved. Data revealed a low representation of non-male authors at conferences on audio engineering as well as the significant variance in conference topic by gender, and the distinct lack of gender diversity across invited presentations. This paper is titled “The Impact of Gender on Conference Authorship in Audio Engineering: Analysis Using a New Data Collection Method” and it was submitted by Kat Young, Michael Lovedee-Turner, Jude Brereton, and Helena Daffern.

It’s very yellow, so no one can miss this important publication! 

Amazing Woman in Acoustics

I’m thrilled to have been chosen as one of Lidia Alvarez’s “Amazing Women in Acoustics”

Lidia is working as a Post Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Theatre Film and Television at the University of York on a fantastic project on Preserving the Acoustics of Cathedrals in the United Kingdom.

We’re collaborating on some acoustic recording work – hoping to be able to record impulse responses in York Minster soon, which will make another nice virtual venue for the Virtual Singing Studio and also feed into our plans for Architexture 3.

Huge thanks to Lidia for highlighting my work on her blog – and looking forward to working on some fun projects coming up soon. Watch this space.

Singing in Space(s): virtual acoustics in musical perception, performance and composition

Talk at Huddersfield University – Thursday 16th December 2018. 

Music always happens in acoustic space — for centuries composers and musicians have exploited the relationship between music and acoustics to great effect. Acoustic science has moved on huge strides from the days of using canon shots in order to capture the acoustic characteristics of a concert hall for further analysis.  Audio digital technology allows us to capture data on room acoustics in great detail and use this to ‘auralise’ virtual sound environments – essentially placing a performer virtually in any acoustic space we choose. Such digital tools have the potential to transform the way we compose, perform and listen to music. This presentation outlines recent research at the University of York’s AudioLab on human reaction and interaction with sound, and considers the opportunities for virtual and augmented reality in future music making.

Dafx Keynote: Gender balance in audio: how to fix it?

I was thrilled to give a keynote presentation at DAFx2017

Here’s the abstract:

Gender equality in STEM has recently been pulled into the public spotlight via popular culture and headline-grabbing events at tech-based companies. Within the audio engineering community we are now starting to build a fuller picture of the extent of gender imbalance in our own discipline, by gathering, analysing and publishing data on gender representation in the subject. There are many complex reasons behind the continued under-representation of women in STEM subjects; many of these are hotly debated on social-media. But, if it’s a problem for audio, how do we fix it? In this talk I would like draw on some of our experiences at the University of York from our long engagement with the Athena SWAN charter, which recognises the advancement of gender equality in academic institutions. I will also suggest some actions we can all take to help build an inclusive audio community where all can thrive.

Changing the World: Audio Engineering Society UK #HeForShe Event

I really enjoyed being part of an ‘expert panel’ on at the Audio Engineering Society event on Gender Equality

Kirsty Gillmore has written an article all about the event – Thanks for the great write up!

Gender Equality and the Audio Industries

Save the Date!

A panel of speakers will discuss Gender Equality and the Audio Industries as part of our HeforShe campaign on 22nd February 2018 at the Department of Theatre, Film and Television at the University of York.

 

Msc Audio and Music Technology

From 2013-2017 I was programme leader for the MSc in Audio and Music Technology, Department of Electronic Engineering, University of York.

The MSc Audio and Music Technology is suitable for students with science, engineering or arts backgrounds, who want to gain a deeper understanding of the technology behind music and audio processing and programming.

Each year we welcome a diverse cohort of students from across the UK and around the world.

From WordPress Womble to WordPress Winner

I recently presented some of my work on embedding Real-World Assessments in our MSc Audio and Music Technology programme at the Uni of York’s E-learning Development Team Show and Tell (November 22nd)

I looked at using technology, in particular websites and social mediea to support the development of digital and employability skills.

Lillian Soon wrote up a summary of the event  – and there’ll be a case study coming up in 2018 with more detail.

In the meantime feel free to get in touch if you’d like to discuss using blogs/websites/LinkedIn profiles to engage students in employability skills development.

Sonicules at Stockholm Tech Fest

Just opened @STHLMTech with @sonicules_sound performance. Thanks for your support @PlinstStockholm #Designing #Drugs with #Sound pic.twitter.com/WfvZb64iqx

— Radek (@Radek_Rudnicki) September 3, 2017

 

Architexture II video released

Our video of the fantastic Architexture II for choir and augmented acoustic – performed in the Museum Gardens, York in September 2015 is now on-line. Massive thanks to Ambrose Field who composed the music specially for the reconstructed acoustic of St. Mary’s Abbey and all of those who were involved in turning such a crazy idea into fabulous reality.