Benjamin Shafer Email & Phone Number

Tacoma, Washington, United States

Las Vegas, Nevada Area

*Acoustical Scientist for sound damping wall/ceiling materials, including theoretical modeling and laboratory/field test planning and implementation-Conduct R&D for new products and the development of the existing product lines-Optimize manufacturing/testing of products*Acoustical Consultant Liaison-Provide scientific data/assistance for building construction projects-Field/lab testing coordination-Conduct feedback/marketing analysis for product development

Tacoma, Wa

*Principal Acoustical Scientist for sound damping wall/ceiling materials, including theoretical modeling and laboratory test planning/implementation-Conducted R&D for a new product-Optimized manufacturing and cost of existing products*Acoustical Consultant Liaison-Provided scientific data/assistance-Field/lab testing organization/implementation*Regional Manager, Pacific Northwest Region (WA, OR)-Oversaw material operations-Provided technical support*Architectural Representative-Provided AIA CES educational seminars on building noise control-Provided technical assistance on projects as a liaison with acoustical consultants

Tacoma, Wa

-Developed a custom MATLAB program for data importing and analysis that increased post-processing productivity by over 200%-Completed 100+ field measurements of speech privacy in healthcare and other commercial facilities, with an invitation to present test results in a special session at the InterNoise 2012 worldwide conference-Created and provided educational presentations for over 90 architects, contractors, and other building professionals to assist them in designing/installing quality end-products for their clients-Created and conducted 3 training modules for engineers regarding basic acoustics, building noise control, and damping/vibration in buildings-Created a training module for sound transmission and speech privacy through building partitions for a group of engineers and scientists-Evaluated and provided recommendations for various building exterior facades for compliance with project-specific requirements, current codes/regulations, and design standards, ensuring that the built environment was conducive to the activities of building occupants-Estimated noise control properties of a proposed building environment to assist clients with weighing design decisions, associated costs, and performance benefits of standard construction versus specialized treatments and materials

Sunnyvale, Ca

*Principal acoustics scientist for R&D of wall/ceiling sound damping and insulation materials, including theoretical modeling and laboratory test planning/implementation-Conducted research and development for 5 new products and the performance and market optimization of 18 existing products, including internal cost savings analysis*Conducted research analysis of laboratory measurements of various partition framing/panel configurations, statistical variation analysis for same-lab-same-test-series measurements, and cross-correlation analysis for the same partition in different laboratories*Conducted over 50 field transmission loss/impact insulation tests, in accordance with ASTM standards, to verify the performance of acoustic treatments*Developed MATLAB code for theoretical transmission loss predictions of single- and double-leaf partitions based on vibration damping theory*Collaborated with 150+ architects and 100+ general contractors on projects ranging in size from $5,000 to over $12M*Developed a building acoustics training program for the sales team*Author of 6 technical bulletins and one white paper and editor of over 40 white papers and other technical documents*Conducted cost and performance analysis of compteitive noise isolation products vs traditional methods, including marketing trend surveys/analysis*Built/maintained relationships with over 600 acoustical consultants world-wide, as lead technical liaison, and assisted them with the application of damping noise control treatment (including analysis of architectural drawings)*Provided technical support for the sales team, regarding building acoustics and noise/vibration control, for a variety of projects, valued at over $20M in total revenue*Communicated directly with contractors to ensure that designed acoustic treatments were implemented correctly

*Used a spherical harmonics expansion to characterize the multi-polar characteristics of a small axial cooling fan and to optimize the placement of near-field error sensors during active noise control (ANC)*Verified the near-field pressure effects of error sensor placement and global sound power minimization in the far field during ANC for an axial cooling fan*Developed a graphical user interface (GUI) for analytically predicting the near-field pressure for different ANC primary/secondary source configurations*Lead the re-organization and inventory of the entire equipment library of the BYU Acoustics Research Group (ARG)*Assisted undergraduates in their research projects

Analysis of Acoustic Systems (graduate-level)•Prepared 5 labs for 8 students•Graded homework and tests, and assisted the 8 students in understanding the subject matter of the courseFundamentals of Acoustics (graduate-level)•Designed and implemented an in-class circular membrane resonance demonstration•Designed 2 labs for 9 studentsDescriptive Acoustics of Speech and Music (undergraduate-level)•Prepared 12 fundamental acoustics labs for 100+ students•Conducted 2 review sessions per week for the 100+ students

*Built and measured the mechanical response of a resonance absorber designed for a reverberation chamber *Constructed 10+ diffusers for a reverberation chamber and assisted in qualifying the chamber to be used for both absorption and sound power measurements

*Developed an effective procedure for measuring the insertion loss through an exterior noise barrier*Measured the insertion loss of five different types of fencing and developed an efficient method of processing and presenting the measured data

*Taught the Spanish language to volunteers assigned to serve in various parts of the world*Educated and trained volunteers in how to teach effectively in both English and Spanish*Directed the teaching and training of 8 other teachers at the training center*Created training workshops and directed meeting for a group of 10 to 12 teachers at the training center*Participated as an instructor in a seminar for mission presidents

Masters, Physics - Acoustics

Activities and Societies: Acoustical Society of America (ASA) 2005–present American Physical Society (APS) 2006–present Institute of Noise.

Bachelor'S, Applied Physics - Acoustics

Activities and Societies: Acoustical Society of America (ASA) Society of Physics Students (SPS) Boy Scouts of AmericaEmphasis.