Last week we welcomed 65 delegates from the acoustics community for a two -day research workshop at the University of Exeter: The Exeter Acoustic Metamaterials Meeting (XAM3, 16th – 17th April 2018; http://xam3.ex.ac.uk/) was organised by Dr Tim Starkey and sponsored by the EPSRC CDT in Metamaterials and the UK Acoustics Network.
The workshop aim was to bring together industrialists, established academics, and early career researchers from world-leading institutions to showcase research and to identify overlapping and complementary interests in acoustic metamaterials and metasurfaces research. Presentations from invited speakers such as Prof Richard Craster (Imperial College London), Prof. Will Parnell (University of Manchester), Prof Romain Fleury (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne), Dr Daniel Elford (Sonobex Ltd), Dr Mihai Caleap (University of Bristol & Metasonics), and Dr Charles Rohde (US Naval Research Laboratory) covered many current metamaterial topics, from fundamental science through to engineered acoustic materials, including:
- Metamaterials and metasurfaces
- Underwater and elastic metamaterials
- Topological metamaterials
- Active metamaterials and acoustic haptics
[See all speakers here: http://xam3.ex.ac.uk/speakers.html]
The meeting provided a platform to engage in further discussion with representatives of industry (e.g. Armacell, Dyson, Metasonics, NPL, QinetiQ, and Thales) and academia (e.g. Aalto University, Institut Langevin, Le Mans University, Technical University of Denmark, University of Bristol, University of Exeter, University of Manchester, University of Southampton, University of Sussex) to explore potential industrial engagement with university research.
In addition, the poster presentation session offered an opportunity for early career researchers to initiate contact with the invited speakers and guests from academia and industry. We are delighted to announce that the poster prize of this year’s XAM3 event was awarded to the CDT in Metamaterials PGR Emily Glover for her poster ‘Phononic Band Engineering for Acoustic-Magnetic Tagging’. Congratulations, Emily! All posters were judged by Dr. Gianluca Memoli from the University of Sussex.
XAM3 2018 provided an environment suited to forging mutually beneficial partnerships across industry and academia in acoustic metamaterials and metasurfaces research. The organisers are very grateful to all that attended for their contributions to the event’s success and they look forward to hosting the event again in the future.
