Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Ray Fischer, President
Subject: NCE Tackles Hearing Loss for the Navy
To: Marine Trade Magazines
Date: June 21, 2010
Noise Control Engineering, Inc. (NCE) was awarded a major, multi-year contract by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to assist the U.S. Navy with its Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) program.
The objective is to reduce the noise exposure and noise levels experienced by crews on U.S. Navy ships. This will be accomplished by using the latest analysis and engineering control methods and changes to noise management approaches. NCE has developed specialized knowledge and tools to accomplish this, including its software program Designer-NOISETM. This tool was developed as part of a Navy Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. By improving this noise prediction and control tool the marine community will have the capability to design and build quieter ships at lower costs. This approach will reduce hearing loss and also improve the noise environment permitting the crew and war-fighter to operate more effectively.
This program is the result of an effort initiated by former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, Dr. Delores Etter. LCDR Matthew Swiergosz and Mr. Kurt Yankaskas, ONR Code 34, championed this multi-tasked approach. The first goal is to improve noise analysis, control and optimization tools used for noise abatement. The second is to enhance and streamline the programmatic and management approaches used to develop and implement noise criteria and related ship specifications.
NCE President, Raymond Fischer stated that, "This engineering effort builds on NCE's core competency of shipboard noise prediction and its mitigation. We have offered this as our primary service since the company was started in 1991. With the ONR award, our primary noise prediction software, Designer-NOISETM, will be greatly improved. We welcome this opportunity to improve the living conditions of the men and woman serving aboard all U.S. Navy ships."
The 3-D acoustic model created in Designer NOISETM and ONR's artist's concept of SEAFIGHTER (X-Craft) is shown in the graphics below.
