Quick Dips

Hush Hush Technology

University of Auckland Master of Engineering student Mark Donaldson (above) is working on a digitally based active noise control system which could make things quieter for flyers. Active noise control is a method of noise cancellation that works by creating a secondary, controlled "anti-noise" signal; the combination of these signals results in silence. The new system passes desired sounds to the ear, while eliminating unwanted noise, enabling the wearer to hear speech and audio clearly, even surrounded by noise. As well as providing clear, high fidelity sound, this approach can be used for hearing protection.>

Donaldson has involved as part of the graduate research programme, which sees students engaged in industry projects. The development was initially set up by aerospace consultancy firm NTech, and has now spun off into a new venture Digital Technologies Ltd (DTL) for commercialisation purposes.

"Aircraft interiors can be very noisy, particularly on smaller planes, and we were interested in any engineering solution that could help solve this problem," says Norm Taylor, a principal of both NTech and DTL. "Our ANC technology looks very promising because it took the digital, rather than analogue, path and utilises new, more complex algorithms to provide far greater levels of noise attenuation."