The Audio Engineering Society has announced the distinguished membership of the organizing committee for the 144th International AES Convention and Exposition, taking place in Milan, Italy, May 23–26 at the NH Hotel Milano Congress Centre. Embracing this year’s theme – “The Power of Sound” – the convention will be co-chaired by Alberto Pinto (Professor – CESMA, NUCT University, Stanford University) and Nadja Wallaszkovits (Chief Audio Engineer – Phonogrammarchiv, Austrian Academy of Sciences and AES President-Elect), who have assembled a team of leading audio professionals to organize the events and presentations for Europe’s largest professional audio education, networking and gear exhibition of the year.
“Throughout their 70-year history,” says Wallaskovits, “AES conventions have gathered the foremost minds in audio to educate and connect with attendees. AES Milan 2018 will carry on that tradition in Northern Italy – not only a wonderful locale, but also home to numerous prominent professional audio manufacturers.”
The all-volunteer committee is representative of the caliber of participants in the convention. The committee members are Workshop Co-chairs Natanya Ford (Senior Lecturer – The University of the West of England; AES Fellow) and Magdalena Piotrowska (Manager and Sound Engineer – Hear Candy Mastering; Post-doc – Gdansk University of Technnology), Papers Co-chairs Ville Pulkki (Tenure-track Assistant Professor – Aalto University; AES Fellow) and Sascha Spors (Professor – University of Rostock), Facilities Co-Chairs Marcello Mannini (Sound Engineer, Skeldon Società Cooperativa) and Layan Thornton (Lecturer – Abbey Road Institute, Paris; Senior Member – AES European Convention TPVR Team) and, as Advisor, Umberto Zanghieri (R&D Manager – Z Division, RCF). “This outstanding committee is developing four full days of content that will educate and enlighten convention attendees,” states Pinto. “For audio professionals looking to advance their knowledge and skills, for students and all others interested in the audio sciences and arts, AES Milan is an essential event.”
“AES Milan is offering Workshops and Tutorials from across the broad range of audio engineering specialties,” elaborates Piotrowska. Sessions will include 3D Audio, Sound Reinforcement, Sound for Cinema, Sound for VR, Multichannel Audio, Recording and Production and Room Acoustics. “Convention attendees can share and expand their audio knowledge from the fundamentals through to the latest technologies,” she furthers. “New media – AR and VR, game sound, immersive audio, mobile platforms – will be the focus of numerous sessions and panels, including the experience of 3D audio through a high-order ambisonics system with dance and electronica musical playback, among other genres – as well as the presentation of spatial audio production techniques used such as B-format processing and spatial microphone capture. The AES Milan technical program will cover the application of technology – such as live sound system optimization and mixing – as well as present panels and presentations focusing on the latest in topics such as audio processing and portable streaming audio.”
A mainstay of AES Conventions are Paper and Poster sessions, presenting the results of scholarly and commercial research covering all aspects of audio technology and including human perception of sound. Pulkki and Spors are heading the team of peer reviewers busy vetting the bountiful submissions for AES Milan 2018.
Students are also a major part of all AES Conventions. AES Milan is no exception, with student-oriented educational sessions and events that include student recording and design competitions, mentoring and a career and school fair.
The four-day technical program at AES Milan will run May 23 through 26, with the exposition taking place May 24 through 26. The technical program sessions include over 160 research paper presentations, covering the latest in audio research, technologies and techniques aimed at educating audio professionals and students, alike, while exemplifying the Convention theme: “The Power of Sound.”
The companion exposition will showcase leading manufacturers with the latest gear on-hand for demonstration and evaluation, along with educational presentations and panels taking place on the show floor. The expo will also feature dedicated demo rooms and other unique listening experiences, complementing the full schedule of special events and social opportunities going on throughout the show.
Make plans to join the AES in Milan and follow us online at www.aeseurope.com for the latest details about the technical program, exhibitors, registration, housing and more. For information on AES Milan Convention discounts, AES E-Library research archive access, special student and education events, visit www.aes.org.