Acoustics Research

Dr. Siu-Kit Lau (Eddie)

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Opening position of Research Assistant in Architecture Education

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Job Description:

Proposed Input:

We are looking for a full-time (5 days a week, 8 hours) Research Assistant for 24 months appointment to commence in April/May 2018 or as soon as possible.

Project: Visualisation is widely used in architecture education within both teaching and design process.  This project aims to investigate the effectiveness and benefit of visualisation using computer modelling in the education of space concepts and building system designs in architecture education.  The building systems include, but not limited to, ventilation/air-conditioning systems, electrical services, plumbing and draining, fire protection and escape routes, acoustics, and lighting.  Therefore, students can develop required skills in integrated building designs and technologies in larger scale buildings.  We will illustrate the design process via instructional visualisation framework.  The research design is to generate evidence that is associative/correlational and causal using statistical modelling.  Quantitative (questionnaire survey) and qualitative (semi-structured interview) studies will be involved.  The effectiveness of the proposed research is evaluated by using an assessment rubric for both the understanding of building systems and the ability to take off the material quantities.

This project involves diverse theoretical as well as applied facets of educational research and building systems as well as architecture.  The candidates are preferred to have prior hands-on experience with a theoretical background as well as educational research or teaching in architecture or building systems.  This position will also assist in project management to ensure the successful completion of the proposed work.  Specifically, this position will be responsible for assisting in overall project management as well as theoretical and experiment development in educational research, development of visualisation teaching materials for building systems, data analysis and reporting to MOE.  S/he will assist in other aspects of the research and dissemination of the results.  S/he can register for part-time research degree (e.g. PhD or Master by research)

Domain: Architecture, Educational Research, Building Systems

The appointed RA will be involved in the following tasks:

  • Assist and take care of all the tasks related to publications in the domain.
  • Participate in research and writing of articles
  • Assist in development, design, and setup of the experiments/surveys
  • Statistical analysis (MANOVA, Cluster Analysis)
  • Analysis and collection of data, and graphical representation of information using suitable tools (such as ArchiCAD, Revit, SPSS, Amos, R programme, MATLAB, etc.)

Job Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s (preferably Master’s) Degree in Architecture, Education or another relevant engineering
  • Knowledge of the building systems or educational research
  • Experience in research work and writing
  • Skilled in graphic design and representation using ArchiCAD or Revit
  • Capacity to work independently
  • Management skills

Compulsory Information to be included.

Interested candidates should contact Siu-Kit (Eddie) LAU at slau@nus.edu.sg with the following:

  1. Cover letter specifying your research interests and experience
  2. CV (including GPA/CAP ranking), which should include names and contact of 3 referees
  3. Most significant publications, if available (no more than two)
  4. A copy of official transcripts (Bachelor degree and Master degree)

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and will be asked to complete and submit the NUS Personal Data Consent for Job Applicants to the contact person indicated in the advertisement. (P/S: please double-click on “NUS Personal Data Consent for Job Applicants) and paste the URL (http://www.nus.edu.sg/careers/potentialhires/applicationprocess/NUS-Personal-Data-Consent-for-Job-Applicants.pdf ) onto another new webpage to retrieve the document.

Shortlisted candidates may also be asked to submit additional documents for review, if necessary.

Compensation

Salary: S$2500 – S$3700 per month

Research Assistant at NUS

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Job Description:

Proposed Input:

We are looking for a full-time Research Assistant for 24 months appointment to commence as soon as possible in 2017. The project includes acoustical development works for residential building. A good knowledge in acoustics, instrumentation, modeling and computational fluid dynamics will be useful.

Project: The research tasks explore innovative ideas for the noise control in buildings. The study will involve the characterization of different sound fields indoor with respect to different functional activities. There is also an element of indoor air quality work.

Domain: Acoustics, Noise Control, Instrumentation, and Modelling.

The appointed RA will be involved in the following tasks:

  • Assist in research, construction of physical models for testing and measurements;
  • Assist in development, design, and setup of the acoustic experiments;
  • Analysis of data and development of prototypes;
  • Assist in administration and management of research, including documentation of results;
  • Participate in research and writing of articles for various publications;
  • Analysis and collection of data, and graphical representation of information using suitable tools (such as AutoCAD, MATLAB, etc.)

 

Job Requirements:

  • Master’s Degree (preferably) or Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Architecture or other relevant disciplines
  • Knowledge in the architectural acoustics and building noise control
  • Experience in research work and writing
  • Skilled in graphic design and representation
  • Capacity to work independently
  • Management skills

 

Compulsory Information to be included.

Interested candidates should contact LEE Siew Eang at bdgleese@nus.edu.sg or Eddie Siu-Kit LAU at slau@nus.edu.sg with the following:

  1. Cover letter specifying your research interests and experience
  2. CV (including GPA/CAP ranking), which should include names and contact of 3 referees
  3. Most significant publications, if available (no more than two)
  4. A copy of official transcripts (Bachelor degree and Master degree)

 

Compensation

Salary: S$2700 – S$3700 per month

Opening position of Research Assistant & Equivalent in Building Acoustics

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Job Description:

We are looking for a full time (5 days a week, 8 hours) Research Assistant for 24 months appointment to commence in March 2017.

Project: The research tasks explore innovative ideas for the noise control in buildings. The study will involve the characterization of different sound fields indoor with respect to different functional activities.

Domain: Acoustics, Noise Control

The appointed RA will be involved in the following tasks:

  • Assist and take care of all the tasks related to publications related to the domain.
  • Participate in research and writing of articles
  • Assist in development, design, and setup of the acoustic experiments
  • Analysis and collection of data, and graphical representation of information using suitable tools (such as AutoCAD, MATLAB, etc.)

Job Requirements:

  • Master’s Degree (preferably) or Bachelor’s Degree of Mechanical Engineering, Architecture or other relevant discipline
  • Knowledge in the architectural acoustics and building noise control
  • Experience in research work and writing
  • Skilled in graphic design and representation
  • Capacity to work independently
  • Management skills

Compulsory Information to be included.

Interested candidates should contact LEE Siew Eang at bdgleese@nus.edu.sg or Eddie Siu-Kit LAU at slau@nus.edu.sg with the following:

  1. Cover letter specifying your research interests and experience
  2. CV (including GPA/CAP ranking), which should include names and contact of 3 referees
  3. Most significant publications, if available (no more than two)
  4. A copy of official transcripts (Bachelor degree and Master degree)

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and will be asked to complete and submit the NUS Personal Data Consent for Job Applicants to the contact person indicated in the advertisement. (P/S: plesase double-click on “NUS Personal Data Consent for Job Applicants) and paste the url (http://www.nus.edu.sg/careers/potentialhires/applicationprocess/NUS-Personal-Data-Consent-for-Job-Applicants.pdf ) onto another new webpage to retrieve the document.

Shortlisted candidates may also be asked to submit additional documents for review, if necessary.

Compensation

Salary: S$2500 – S$3700 per month

Smart and green urban living on the horizon (An article in Future Ready Singapore)

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An article of our T2 lab is now live on the FRS (Future Ready Singapore) website.  You can read it from this link.

“Lau Siu Kit … explains that the idea for the T2 Lab was conceived through two driving forces: the increases in population density and energy in Singapore and the growing awareness and emphasis placed on sustainability and global efforts to combat climate change.”

“There is an increase in awareness of sustainable buildings and cities among students at the school. Globally, countries have pledged to limit global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius. The T2 Lab comes at a good time, with many opportunities to establish NUS and Singapore as a leader in the area of sustainable living,” he explains.

“We want to know more about these technologies and use them well in the tropics, so that this knowledge can be transferred to the industry and general public. It is our hope that our research can benefit people living in Singapore, through energy savings and ecological improvements,” adds Lau.

Opening position of a Research Assistant for a Study of Photovoltaic (PV) Systems

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We are looking for a full time (5 days a week, 8 hours) Research Assistant for 24 months appointment to commence in January 2017.
 
Project: The research tasks explore innovative ideas investigating the impacts of photovoltaic (PV) systems selection and their impact on localised power generation for net-zero energy building movement. Modifications to the PV systems to enhance their power generation efficiency will be examined to satisfy the increasing demand and reduce maintenance of the systems under tropical context. This research will run in parallel with other two researches related to the Tropical Technology (T2) Lab and the energy efficient PV systems in tropical environment. Therefore, a regular collaboration among two or three RAs is also expected.
 
Domain: Solar energy, Photovoltaic, BIPV
 
The appointed RA will be involved in the following tasks:

  • Assist and take care of all the tasks related to publications related to the domain.
  • Participate in research and writing of articles
  • Assist in development, design, and setup of the photovoltaic research facilities
  • Analysis and collection of data, and graphical representation of information using suitable tools (such as Autocad, MATLAB, PVsyst, etc.)

Job Requirements:

  • Master’s Degree in Architecture or Bachelor’s (preferably Master’s) Degree of Electrical and Electronic Engineering or other relevant engineering
  • Knowledge in the photovoltaic systems and design
  • Experience in research work and writing
  • Skilled in graphic design and representation
  • Capacity to work independently
  • Management skills

Please visit this link or contact Siu-Kit (Eddie) LAU at slau@nus.edu.sg.

NUS-CDL T^2 Lab

NUS-CDL T^2 Lab

Singapore Sustainable Built Environment (SBE16) Conferences

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Singapore Sustainable Built Environment (SBE16) Conferences will be held on 5th and 6th September 2016.  The theme is “Mitigating Climate Change from ASEAN’s Perspective”.  Four tracks of issues consist of Biodiversity, Waste Management & Sustainable Construction, Coastal Protection, and Human Behaviour/Social Policies. Researchers, students, policy makers, practitioners, and members from SBE partners should join.  The deadline for abstract submission is on 31 May 2016.  Details can be found at this link.

BCA Academy (Academic Tower)

BCA Academy (Academic Tower)

Research Workshop with Prof Wang Jie from Zhejiang University (China)

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Prof. Wang Jie for Zhejiang University has visited the Department of Architecture at NUS on 3rd Nov 2015.  She has given a presentation in a research workshop at CSAC, entitled “On the implementation and practice of rural and village protection and regeneration”.  Prof. Wang is a Professor, Doctoral supervisor and Director of Landscape and Garden Center at the College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University.

Dr. Zhang Ji (from 2nd left), Prof. Stephen Lau, Prof. Wang Jie, Dr. Siu-Kit Lau and students in the research workshop

Dr. Zhang Ji (from 2nd left), Prof. Stephen Lau, Prof. Wang Jie, Dr. Siu-Kit Lau and students in the research workshop

Presentation by Prof. Wang Jie

Presentation by Prof. Wang Jie

Student Design Competition of a Rural School (Visiting Ningbo)

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Sixteen design teams of students in University of Nottingham at Ningbo have been formed for the student design competition of a rural school.  Recently, they have visited a Adream classroom in Ningbo.  Details can be found in this link.

Classroom of a school in China

Classroom of a school in China

The 11th International Conference on Green and Energy-Efficient Building & New Technologies

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The 11th International Conference on Green and Energy-Efficient Building & New Technologies and Products Expo has been held in Beijing on March 24 and 25.  Dr. Siu-Kit Lau has been invited for a speech regarding the current research at classroom acoustics in China.  Results have been compared with a recent study in UK.  There are other professionals sharing their studies and experiences in green campus development.

CGBC 2015 (Register)Dr Siu-Kit Lau (CGBC 2015)Green Campus (Guests)

 

Dr Siu-Kit Lau (CGBC 2015)

A Major Element for Health, Wellbeing and Productivity of Staff

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Acoustics in Offices:

— A Major Element for Health, Wellbeing and Productivity of Staff

Typical Business Operation Cost (Source: http://www.worldgbc.org)

Typical Business Operation Cost (Source: http://www.worldgbc.org)

Recently, a new report from the World Green Building Council (WGBC) finds “overwhelming evidence” that office design significantly impacts the health, wellbeing and productivity of staff.

Staff costs typically accounts for 90% of business operating costs. A study in 1998 found that there was up to a 66% drop in performance for a ’memory for prose’ task when participants were exposed to different types of background noise. A follow-up study by the same authors in 2005 found that 99% of people surveyed reported that their concentration was impaired by office noise such as unanswered phones and background speech.

Background sound levels need to drown out unwanted distraction, but not be too loud to cause stress, therefore a background sound level of 45dBA is recommended in open plan offices. In private or cellular offices the background sound levels can be reduced to 40dBA. In both cases, any higher and that background sound itself risks becoming a distraction.

For more details about the report, it is kindly suggested to visit the link below.

http://www.worldgbc.org/activities/health-wellbeing-productivity-offices .