Another award for acoustics postgraduate researcher
PhD student Marcos Simón at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) has been awarded a prestigious prize by the Spanish Acoustical Society. It is his second award in 2013.
The Andrés Lara Prize is a grant given by the SEA, Sociedad Española de Acustica, during its conference, aimed at encouraging young researchers to develop new advancements in acoustics. The late Andrés Lara was one of the pioneers of acoustics in his country, founded the SEA and led the acoustics branch of the Spanish national research institute.
Marcos is examining new ways to help people with hearing problems enjoy watching television with their families again. Although half of people aged over 60 suffer some hearing loss, only around 20 per cent of them use hearing aids. This often leads to arguments over how high TV volume should be turned up when families are viewing together. He is developing a new loudspeaker array to create a ‘hot spot' of TV sound in a room; if the person with poor hearing sat in this particular area he/she would benefit from the higher volume of sound generated there.
Earlier in 2013, Marcos was awarded the Young Person's Award for Innovation in Acoustical Engineering 2013 by the Institute of Acoustics, sponsored by the Industrial Acoustics Company Ltd (IAC).