On 1st June 2011, Peter Exton, from Marshall Day Acoustics, Melbourne, Australia gave a presentation to around 20 people at the University of Adelaide on the acoustic design of the Guangzhou Opera House, which has been hailed as 'an architectural masterpiece'. The project was designed by the famous Zaha Hadid Architects and was opened formally in February 2011.

The theatre has become the biggest performing centre in South China and is one of the three biggest theatres in the nation alongside Beijing's National Theatre and Shanghai's Shanghai Grand Theatre. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangzhou_Opera_House

The presentation described the design process for the Opera House interior from the discussions of the initial design concepts and the development of design parameters for the room, to the creation and modelling of the principal reflection surfaces. The process of
modelling in Odeon and with a physical 1:10 scale model.

I found that the presentation provided an interesting insight into the teamwork between acoustic consultants, architects, and the client to achieve an outstanding result. Each group have their own technical language and it is necessary to develop an understanding of the wishes from each group and to be able translated their desires into real outcomes.

The South Australian division was pleased to sponsor Peter's visit to Adelaide. We strongly encourage our members to suggest topics of interest or speakers that they would like to hear.

The South Australian Division of the Australian Acoustical Society is pleased to announce that the 2011 student prize for final year project sponsorship was awarded to a project group 'Levitating magnet vibration isolation device'. The group comprising Yann Frizenschaf, Siobhan Giles, Jack Miller, Christopher Stapleton, and Thomas Pitman are final year mechanical engineering students at the University of Adelaide, and were awarded $850 to aid them in their project.

The final year project financial sponsorship scheme is open to all final year students enrolled at a university in South Australia. The purpose of the scheme is to encourage students to undertake acoustics or vibration related projects.

Congratulations to SA Committee member Peter Heinze who has been elected as the Federal Chairman of the AAS at the Annual General Meeting held in Victoria on 7 December 2010.

There will be a AAS Committee Meeting on Wednesday 22 October 2010 at Cafe Brunelli.

Part of the charter of the Australian Acoustical Society is to encourage and promote the field of acoustics. The South Australian Division of the AAS awards a prize to the student who obtains the highest mark in undergraduate acoustics course. This year it is our pleasure to award the 2010 Student Prize to Michael Lewis, who will receive a cheque for $500 and a certificate. Congratulations Michael!

NOTICE OF THE 34th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND TECHNICAL MEETING

Ultrasound for the Control of Cyanobacteria by Dr. Carl Howard, The University of Adelaide

We were extremely fortunate to have a visit by Prof. Hugo Fastl on 31st August 2010 who gave a presentation to the Australian Acoustical Society, and the Acoustics, Vibration, and Control research group on the topic of "Basics and Applications of Psychoacoustics". The presentation was an overview of some of the main concepts in psychoacoustics, cultural differences in the interpretation of sounds, and how psychoacoustics is used in industry and research. About 30 people attended the presentation which was very well received.

Unfortunately our web server crashed recently and the division's web site was lost. I am in the process of rebuilding the web site.