Meeting Topic: 20th Meeting of the Portuguese Section of the Audio Engineering Society
Moderator Name: Several (please see report)
Speaker Name: Several (please see report)
Other business or activities at the meeting:
The Portuguese Section of the Audio Engineering Society (PSAES) held its 20th meeting on December 21, 2017 at IEETA, a Computer Science and Electrical Engineering research unit of the University of Aveiro. The meeting was organized by Guilherme Campos with the support of José Vieira, both members of the AES and PSAES and Professors at the University of Aveiro, and was attended by about 25 audio enthusiasts, 11 being PSAES/AES members.
The meeting format consisted of i) a morning session comprising 5 technical presentations, ii) two afternoon briefings on the proposal and organization of two conferences taking place in Portugal in 2018 and 2019, both relying on the collaboration of the PSAES, and iii) a board meeting of the PSAES. Although being open for all, voting in this meeting was restricted to AES/PSAE members.
In the technical session, Catarina Hiipakka addressed the intelligent 3D spatialization of sound as a means to improve the understanding of the information content displayed on a screen; Tiago Lestre discussed opportunities for real-time sound manipulation enhancing musical expression and multimedia performance; Marcelo Baptista illustrated the importance of the visual representation of sound in music education and musical creativity; Vera Korchevnyuk discussed the importance of correct sound localization by robots in a perspective of elderly assistive interaction and Ricardo Ribeiro demonstrated the need for a correct calibration and synchronization among the array microphones to maximize performance.
In the afternoon session, Guilherme Campos informed on the plans and ongoing activities related to the organization of the DAFx2018 conference in Aveiro, and Aníbal Ferreira briefed the audience on the proposal that has been submitted to the AES Conference Policies Committee for the organization of the 2019 AES International Conference on Audio Forensics, in Porto. In both cases, it is the first time that such important international scientific events take place in Portugal, and the PSAES is likely to play a very important role in their organization.
The board meeting had two main objectives in the agenda: the election of new a governing body (Chair, Board, Tax Board), and the PSAES support to the organization of international scientific audio-related events in Portugal. A single list was submitted for the new PSAES governing body and was unanimously approved. The Chair includes Diamantino Freitas (President), Aníbal Ferreira (Secretary) and José Vieira (Treasurer). The Board includes António Oliveira (President), Joel Paulo (Vice-President) and Paulo Alexandre (Secretary). The Tax Board includes Guilherme Fonseca (President), Nuno Fonseca (Vice-President) and Salviano Soares (Secretary).
The elected governing body took on the new role and conducted the reminder of the meeting. The new Board President greeted all PSAES/AES members for attending this successful meeting and highlighted the important role of all involved in a rich history of 20 meetings in existence since activities started 17 years ago. He also motivated the Board to face an ambitious goal in a foreseeable future: to create conditions for an AES International Convention to take place in Portugal. This challenge caught the PSAES members by some surprise but motivated also some exciting thoughts and questions.
The PSAES support has been approved for two scientific events in 2018 (DAFx2018 and Resonate Sound Media Art conferences) and one in 2019 (still under appreciation by the AES Conference Policies Committee). Other decisions included the need of a mandatory contract or written agreement for every scientific audio-related event that the PSAES decides to support; the evaluation of the feasibility of future PSAES meetings taking place in Portuguese islands (Madeira and Azores), and the identification of funding opportunities for PSAES activities. The next PSAES event will be organized in Porto by Marco Conceição (ESMAE-IPP).
Meeting Location: IEETA, a Computer Science and Electrical Engineering research unit of the University of Aveiro, Portugal
Please see the above report, the meeting had several parts as described. It was a whole-day event.
Written By: Aníbal Ferreira
