Underwater Acoustics will provide the major non-transportation noise stream.

Architectural and Building Acoustics will also be well represented.

Transportation Noise and Vibration

• Road traffic noise (for example, general prediction/case studies, tire/pavement noise issues, bridge noise issues, heavy vehicle aspects including exhaust brakes, noise criteria and annoyance).
• Railway noise (including general prediction/case studies, wheel/rail interaction, squeal, locomotive/rolling stock noise control etc, noise criteria and annoyance).
• Environmental noise modelling/propagation – focussing on the technical aspects of modelling and prediction – including considerations of accuracy/reliability etc.
• Regenerated noise/structure-borne noise and vibration – prediction and control, criteria and assessment (including specifically as these relate to tunnels).
• Aircraft noise issues, fixed wing and helicopters – (e.g. measurement aspects, general prediction/case studies, noise criteria and annoyance, aircraft noise information systems, particular building design issues).
• Building/architectural acoustics – including airborne and structure-borne isolation, vibration and noise control.
• Noise and vibration control including exhaust design and drive train noise control, cab/chassis isolation, damping and sound absorptive materials.
• Active noise and vibration control in transport applications, including marine platforms and heavy vehicles such as locomotives, other prime movers and large mining machinery.
• Planning aspects of the transportation noise issue, including economic implications of amelioration strategies and particular design/assessment criteria.

Underwater Acoustics

• Marine bioacoustics – including marine mammal studies, fisheries acoustics, background biological noise studies, effects of anthropogenic noise on marine animals.
• Arrays and acoustic-imaging systems – including sonar and seismic arrays, 3D imaging systems, acoustic daylight technique, applications of time-reversal acoustics.
• Sonar and acoustic communication systems – including applications in specific environments, target detection and classification, performance modelling, performance measurement.
• Propagation studies and the Geo-Acoustic inversion – including prediction, modelling, measurements, long range transmission and detection, prediction of received waveforms, random medium effects.
• Inverse methods - including geo-acoustic inversion, matched-field inversion, acoustic tomography.
• Sources and scattering – including source characterisation, self noise studies, novel sources, seabed and sea surface scattering, back-scattering from marine organisms.

Architectural and Building Acoustics

Possible related topics include:

• Building acoustics amenity provisions of other (i.e. non BCA) Australian regulatory documents.  Comparable standards from other jurisdictions.
• Private design standards and specifications for residential and non-residential applications (e.g. hotels, cinemas, broadcast studios etc.).
• Multi-tenancy residential airborne and structure-borne design standards.
• Airborne and impact noise control in buildings.
• Mechanical and hydraulic noise criteria and control.
• Low frequency noise in buildings.

Other Topics

• General environmental noise
• Occupational noise
• Industrial noise & vibration control
• Legislation
• Sound measurement, instrumentation and techniques
• Ultrasound
• Low frequency sound and infrasound