reported by: Dr. Roland K C
Tan
Student Cousellor & WebMaster (Term
2000/2001)
On Monday, 10 July 2000 at 7.15pm, 9
members, 42 students and guests of the
AES Singapore Section gathered
at the Nanyang Technological
University (NTU) for the first event of the new Term 2000/2001. The
distinguished speaker for the evening, who once served as a governor on the
AES Board of Governors in 1993-95, is the current Vice President of the AES
International Region, Dr.
Rhonda Wilson. She shared her 11 years
| of career experience in audio and also
talked about the AES worldwide including her role as the VP
International, and how it could benefit members in their career
development by being actively involved in the society.
This was the second time the section had organised
such talk to promote student membership. A similar one was held on
Wednesday, 28 July in 1999 at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic that was
entitled,
“The Future of Audio in Singapore – Starting an AES Singapore Student
Section”. |
Student attendees registrating for the talk at NTU
LT23 - photograph by Cedric Tio |
51 members and invited guests, comprising mainly of
tertiary students among the audience, at the university's lecture theatre 23
before the talk began at 7.15pm - photograph by
Cedric Tio
At 7.15pm,
Dr.
Roland K C Tan, who organised the event, welcomed the young audience
comprising mainly of tertiary students from the local universities,
polytechnics, private educational institutions, and even junior colleges.
Dr. Tan is currently the section Student Counsellor since 1998 and also
the section Web Master. He is also a Founding Member of the local chapter
and also past Chairman for two consecutive terms in 96/97 and 97/98. The
seminar was also well represented with working adults from the local
industries. It was hoped that through this evening seminar, it would
encourage more student memberships and to possibly form an AES Singapore
Student Section. This was immediately followed by a 15 minutes video
presentation produced by the AES Head Office and entitled, "Careers in
Audio". This gave the audience an overview of the many exciting and
rewarding career opportunities in the audio industry – from sound engineer
to audio journalist.
After the video presentation, Dr. Rhonda Wilson,
who was also past Vice Chairman of the British Section in 92/93 and past
Chairman in 93/94, emphasised that a solid foundation in education is a
necessary pre-requisite to become an audio research engineer. The subjects
to master include electrical & electronic engineering, mathematics, computer
science, as well as some of the more advanced topics such as signal
processing. She listed some of the many career prospects and options in
audio - from research & development (R&D) in the field of psychoacoustic to
digital signal processing (DSP), and so on. Should one choose to move into
management in the later part of their career life, she believes that one can
make a good manager with a better understanding in the engineering subject.
Other opportunities include marketing, product
development, and so on. The effort to extend one’s knowledge base by having
to constantly keep up to date with the
Dr Rhonda Wilson sharing her personal experience as
an audio R&D Engineering Manager at Meridian Audio (UK) as well as a
Vice President of the AES InternationalRegion -
photograph by Cedric Tio |
latest technologies as well as to
maintain a creative and fresh approach towards R&D, are the many
challenges which give lots of job satisfaction. Meeting design and
production schedules are also part and parcel of the many daily
challenges, she added. From her experience as an Engineering Research
Manager from Meridian
Audio (UK), Dr. Wilson gave a case study of the entire
process in the design and development of some of the Meridian Audio
products. She feels that the best rewards come from receiving a positive
review from peers about the product that she has played a part in the
design and development. |
This is where the AES can help fulfil an individual’s
goal towards becoming an audio professional. The AES Journals provide a very
good source of information with the latest breakthrough in audio research
technology, engineering solution and product updates. There are also the AES
Conventions in which one could attend where the activities include
exhibitions, workshop and paper sessions. The AES web site on
“Education” contains lots of
very good relevant information for students. The student membership fee is a
reduced US$40 and one gets to enjoy the same benefits as any members such as
10 copies of the Journals annually and also a discounted entrance fee to
attend any of the AES conferences. However, she feels that the real benefits
come from forming a student section and participating in the audio community
where students get to contact the guest speakers. All these things provide
leadership training in one way or another.
Student members from any student sections have the
opportunity to serve in the Student Delegate Assembly. This provides a
communication channel between student members and the AES HQ. There are two
sets of student officers - one from Europe and the International Regions
while the other one from the North and South America Regions. There are also
student awards and scholarship grants available to encourage entry of
talented students in audio. Also, the educational directories provide a
platform for students to contact the colleges and universities world-wide on
the many audio courses it offers.
The AES was formed in 1948 in New York and currently
serves around 20,000 members who are professionals in many fields of audio,
in over 40 countries. A commitment to promote education in audio technology
and its allied arts is an essential part of the charter of the AES. There
are currently 34 student sections in the USA, 2 in Latin America, 11 in
Europe, and none so far in the International Region. As the VP of the
International Region, she serves as our main point of contact by acting as
our representative on the Board of Governors at the AES HQ level. Her role
is to encourage and support the sections under the International Region such
as the Singapore Section. In addition, one of her main objectives is to help
establish new sections and she hopes that Singapore would be among the first
to set up a student section in this region.
| At about 8.10pm, the recently elected
section Chairman for the new Term 2000/2001,
Mr.Robert Soo,
addressed the audience for the next 15 minutes. In his presentation, he
mentioned briefly about the history of the AES Singapore Section.
Affiliated to the AES in New York, the Singapore Section was formed
officially in December 1995. According to Soo, who was also the
past Treasurer in the previous term, the local section has currently 62
members, 6 student members as well as 3 sustaining members. |
Dr. Rhonda Wilson (left) receiving a speaker's
plaque from the new Section Chairman, Mr. Robert Soo, after the talk -
photograph by Cedric Tio |
To date, the section had organised more than 40
activities that included technical seminars, forums, lectures several studio
tours, as well as annual dinners since 1995. The section also has to its
credit, a bi-monthly newsletter which was first published in February 1996,
and a Web Site established since 1997. Soo also highlighted on the
many benefits – both tangibles and non-tangibles, should one become a member
of the AES.
Many students gathered around later to chat with Dr.
Wilson during the refreshment session which was served right after the
seminar had ended at around 8.45pm. These went on well until around
half-past nine in the evening.
The AES Singapore Section would like to take this
opportunity to thank A/Prof. Gan Woon Seng, Committee Members of the
local chapter and also an Associate Professor from the
School of Electrical & Electronic
Engineering (EEE) at NTU, for the use of the lecture theatre and the AV
facilities.
For more information about the AES HQ:
The AES Head Office
60 East 42nd Street, Room 2520
New York, NY 10165-2520,
U.S.A.
email: HQ@aes.org
web: http://www.aes.org
|
