I-INCE young professionals program offers grants, advice and opportunity

The goal of the I-INCE’s young professionals program is to first enable young noise control engineers and students to attend the Inter-Noise congresses. Over the past three years, 42 travel grants have been awarded. Second, grant participants and other students are then invited to the Young Professionals workshop, held during the annual Inter-Noise congress. All attendees are given the opportunity to learn valuable skills from experts in the field of noise control engineering. Both workshop and travel grant programs facilitate exposure to senior professionals, experience in formulating research problems, public presentation and paper writing, and development of networking abilities. 1. Goals of the young professionals grant program and workshop Grant programs for students and young professionals are often needed to attract young professionals to join professional organizations as well as enable them to attend technical conferences, which they may not otherwise be able to do. Accordingly, I-INCE initiated a grant program in 2010 for noise control engineering students and professionals within the first ten years of their careers. The I-INCE Board of Directors authorized granting €500 per recipient toward conference registration and travel expenses. Applicants must register for the Inter-Noise congress, meet deadlines for submitting abstracts and manuscripts, and actively participate in the congress. Attendance at these conferences promotes their names and their work, allows them to network with senior professionals and helps them develop contacts for future work. They can also advance their skills in writing papers, assembling presentations, and in developing professional relationships. I-INCE has funded 12 to 18 travel grants per year since 2010, or 42 grants totaling €22,000. Grant recipients join other students at the Young Professionals workshop where experts in noise control engineering share their insights and experience. Grant recipients also receive certificates to commemorate their accomplishment. Young Professionals Workshop sessions feature presentations on a variety of topics, including career development tactics such as mentoring. These are skills that young professionals and students need to cultivate in order to be successful in their chosen fields. The June 2012 edition of Noise/News International covered the Young Professionals program and its workshops. I-INCE expects to soon announce the 2013 grants, the workshop program and a list of previous winners. 2. Travel grant program The Inter-Noise congress website carries a call for papers for the grant about nine months before the conference. A link established in 2012 to the main menu of the I-INCE website enables students and young professionals to apply by submitting information including the following: name, affiliation, name of supervisor, local acoustical society, an abstract of the paper and two pages of supporting information, a one-page biography, and personal recommendations from supervisors or local acoustical society members. The I-INCE Young Professional Grant Committee reviews the applications, typically in two rounds of judging: sorting acceptable and unacceptable papers and grading those that have been accepted. Applicants with the highest grades receive a provisional listing for grant awards, which the technical chair and staff of the Inter-Noise congress distribute, drawing names from a waiting list if topranked applicants are unable to attend. The grant program has drawn students and young professionals from 28 countries as described in [Table 1]. 3. Young professionals workshop The Young Professionals workshop aims to examine noise control engineering case studies and professional issues presented by world-renowned experts and informal discussions between young professionals and I-INCE leaders and senior noise control engineers. Once the winners of the Young Professional Grant have been determined, all of the participants are invited to this workshop to gain 94 www.inceusa. org • www.noisenewsinternational. net • www.i-ince.org 2012 September valuable contacts and view presentations by noise control professionals. The invitation is also extended to any student who is formally registered for the conference. A notice about the workshop is usually posted on the Inter-Noise website giving those who are not directly invited a chance to contact the workshop hosts in order to attend the workshop. The first workshop in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2010 attracted 29 participants, while the second workshop in Osaka, Japan, in 2011 attracted 27 participants. The most recent workshop held at Inter-Noise 2012 in New York had 57 participants, which included graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and young noise control professionals. The topics in 2010 included Reducing Road Noise with Quieter Pavement, Industrial Noise Control, and Control of Structure-borne Sound in Wood Frame Floors. At Inter-Noise 2011 and Inter-Noise 2012, the topics of discussion included issues related to mentoring, such as How to Formulate Research Problems, How to Publish, and How to Network. These are