Dr. David Waddington
School of Science, Engineering and Environment
Current positions
Professor in Environmental Acoustics
Biography
I am the Professor in Environmental Acoustics in the Acoustics Research Centre at the University of Salford. I am an internationally recognised researcher in the areas of outdoor sound propagation, and the human response to vibration and noise. With over 25 years of experience in acoustics research and consultancy, I have worked on nationally and internationally recognised standards and policy documents. Recent projects include the Defra NANR209 ‘Human response to vibration in residential environments’, rewriting the Environment Agency H3 Guidance note for Noise and Vibration, and the EU FP7 funded ‘Cargovibes’ project concerning vibration from rail freight. I am highly active in the Institute of Acoustics including the Environmental Noise Group Committee, as a workshop organiser and speaker, and as examiner for IOA Diploma Environmental Noise Specialist Module. I teach the Environmental Acoustics and Engineering Noise Control at the University of Salford, where I am also Programme Leader for the MSc Acoustics course.
Areas of research
Human Response, Vibration, Environmental Noise, Residential Environments
I am the Programme Leader for the MSc Environmental Acoustics course. I teach Environmental Acoustics at UG and PG level, which means that I regularly bring ‘research into teaching’ students through stimulating discussion. I am a member of the IOA Environmental Noise Group, and also teach IOA Diploma courses for which I am specialist examiner on Environmental Noise. This means that I frequently bring the latest developments in policy, consultancy and industry to the attention of the students in the classroom. I likewise create opportunities for taught UG and PG projects to be associated with the longer term projects, and to bring ‘research into enterprise’.
Since my appointment as Reader in August 2009 I have built up a multidisciplinary ‘Human response to vibrations’ team with a critical mass of researchers with recognised world class ability and achievements, and have led this team to international prominence in an influential field of research. Main areas of interest are noise and vibration from rail and from construction activities .
As Project Manager I inspired my team to work especially hard to implement Quality Assurance systems for compliance with the Joint Code of Practice for Research (JCoPR) for our Defra NANR209 contract commencing in 2008. In 2010 my research team were independently audited by UKAS. The conclusion of UKAS was that the Quality systems developed by my team within which their research is performed were ‘amongst the best, if not the best’.
Qualifications
- PhD Acoustics, Salford (1986-1990)
- MSc DSP Applications in Communication Systems, Lancaster (1995-1996)
- BSc (Hons) Physics with Electronics, UMIST (1983-1986)
Memberships
- Member of the Institute of Acoustics, including Environmental Noise Group Committee and examiner for IOA Diploma Environmental Noise Specialist Module
- Member of the Acoustical Society of America