Episode 10: FOOD, SLEEP & ENERGY - Mahmoud Alamir of Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia

The Quiet Mark Podcast

On Sept. 29th 2020, ABC.net was one of many global publications to highlight a study by our guest on Ep. 10, Acoustics PhD Candidate, Mahmoud Alamir of Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia. Under the headline: "Noisy restaurants leave a bad taste for diners, researchers recommend quiet spaces", Malcolm Sutton writes,

Polished concrete and hard surfaces may be all the rage for today's cafes and restaurants but, according to Flinders University researchers, the accompanying noise levels are reducing people's enjoyment of food.

Using an 11-point Likert scale to rate participants' responses, the study found that restaurant and traffic noise at all levels reduced people's enjoyment of food, but it tasted worse the louder those noises became.

On the flipside, however, the paper found that relaxing music increased people's food enjoyment — by 60 percent at 30dBA, and by 38 percent at 40dBA.

In addition to his studies of sounds effect on our dining experience, Mahmoud also speaks to our host, Simon Gosling about his exploration of sound's impact on our sleep and another one of his studies, "The Human response to wind farm noise compared to road traffic noise based on focused listening tests".

Mahmoud Alamir has a considerable number of years of international research experience in engineering and programmes. He has developed, co-ordinated, lectured, assessed and examined a wide range of courses. He is now doing research with Australian experts in projects funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). He's presented his research at a number of internationally prestigious journals, conferences, workshops, and seminars. He's also tutored, lectured and coordinated a number of courses including acoustics at theUniversity of Adelaide and Flinders University.

"My general research interests are acoustics and its relation to heat, airflow and human responses (i.e. Thermoacoustics, Aeroacoustics and Psychoacoustics), Mahmoud tells Simon. "I am currently studying the effect of noise on human responses during my PhD program. In particular, I am studying the effect of wind farm noise on sleep acceptability. In my current and previous work, I use state of the art artificial intelligence models for acoustical problems".

Food, Sleep, Energy and Power - a listen to this fascinating episode really highlights how sound is at the very heart of every element of our lives. Thus providing further emphasis on the need for quiet machines and appliances and improved acoustics in the built environment; made possible by the products and materials that are certified by Quiet Mark and included its AcousticsAcademy.com online platform; to further equip and empower architects, builders and designers with a guide to expertly verified leading acoustic solutions for every building application area.

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