SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK

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Department of Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering, School of Engineering Sciences, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm

Postal address: Institutionen för farkost och flyg, KTH, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Visiting address: Teknikringen 8, second floor, Stockholm
Fax: +46 (0)8 790 76 29
Web page: http://www.ave.kth.se/

Contact person: Associate Professor Hans Bodén, phone: +46 (0)8 7908021

Dr. Hans Bodén in one of the sound and vibration laboratories at the KTH Department of Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering.

KTH Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering, is the result of a merger between the department of Aeronautics and the department of Vehicle Engineering. The new department which became operational in 2003, is unique in its coverage of all vehicle engineering disciplines, i.e. air, ground, rail and sea transport vehicles. The high level of research on theoretical aspects is validated through the extensive experimental resources held by the department.

The Department is involved in a major Asia-Link Programme, funded by the European Commission and involving institutions in both Europe and Asia. The programme is called CIRCIS, Collaboration in Research and Development of New Curriculum in Sound & Vibration. It was selected in the fourth round of the Asia-link Programme in 2005. More information on the Asia-Link programme.

The partner instititions have been the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee (contact person: Prof. V.K. Goel), the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi (contact person: Prof. K. Gupta), and Loughborough University in UK (contact person: Prof. N. Mansfield).
Project objectives: To establish network links between the partners, and carry out a joint research work on low-frequency vibration comfort. Also introduce new teaching methodologies, and develop undergraduate and postgraduate courses on sound & vibration, upgrade laboratories with regard to sound & vibration equipment at IIT Roorkee and IIT Delhi. Train Indian teachers on the new methodologies, courses and equipment, prepare and give short courses on sound & vibration for Indian engineers, offer student mobility (internships, M.Sc. theses, M.Sc. program on sound & vib.). Dissemination (publications, courses, workshops, seminars, website etc.). KTH students will also be able to do M.Sc. thesis work in India.

In November 2005 the Department received SEK 600 000 as a three year grant (2006-08) from the Swedish Research Links programme (funded by Sida and the Swedish Research Council) for an project titled ”Influency vibration on activity comfort while travelling by railway vehicles” . This project was carried out with Indian partners in the CIRCIS programme. More information on the Swedish Research Links grants 2005.

In October 2007 Prof. Mats Berg, Head of the Division of Rail Vehicles, within the KTH Department of Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering, received SEK 600 000 as a three year grant (2008-10) from the Swedish Research Links programme (funded by Sida and the Swedish Research Council) for an project titled ”Assessment of environmental noise impact in Dhaka, Bangladesh”. More information on the Swedish Research Links grants 2007.
Project abstract: Long term exposure to environmental noise can adversely affect sleep, school and work performance, and cardiovascular (heart) disease. The health impacts of environmental noise depend on the intensity of noise, on the duration of exposure, and the context of exposure. Noise pollution is continuously growing, accompanied by an increasing number of complaints from affected individuals. Most people are typically exposed to several noise sources, with traffic noise being a dominant source. Population growth, urbanization and to a large extent technological development are the main causes and future enlargements of highway systems, railway systems and international airports will only increase the noise problem. One of the most common adverse effects of noise in our daily lives is the annoyance. The effect of noise on annoyance can be evaluated by questionnaires or by assessing the disturbance of specific activities. However, it should be recognized that equal levels of different traffic and industrial noises cause different magnitudes of annoyance. This is because annoyance in populations varies not only with the characteristics of the noise, including the noise source, but also depends to a large degree on many non-acoustical factors of a social, psychological, or economic nature. In most cases, LAeq and Ldn are measured for 24 hours for an acceptable approximation of noise exposure related to annoyance. However, there is growing concern that all the component parameters should be individually assessed in noise exposure investigations, at least in the complex cases. There is no consensus on a representative model for total annoyance due to a combination of environmental noise sources. In Bangladesh, there are no authentic statistical data on the effects of community noise on hearing impairment or annoyance. Governments have insufficient resources where a vast population is contended with high illiteracy rates; consequently, priorities are given for fighting hunger, malnutrition, diseases and various man-made and natural calamities. The governments are thus unable to give the necessary attention towards the prevention, early detection and management of noise pollution in the country. It is therefore necessary for the Asian partner to have cooperation with a skilled international research institution like KTH. The purposes of the present project are to bring awareness to the adverse effects of noise & vibration as well as exchange ideas, skills and knowledge at the institutional level where the research and lectures could be performed. In addition, support future noise policies and regulations, counter measures on various types of vehicles, traffic infrastructures and housings.

Associate Professor Shafiquzzaman Khan at the Division of Railway Technology was the main coordinator for this Bangladesh programme. However, in 2008 he left the department, and the Bangladesh project is now administered by Associate Professor Hans Bodén at the Marcus Wallenberg Laboratory for Sound and Vibration Research (MWL).
Dr. Bodén is engaged in a collaboration project with the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in Dhaka. The contact person at BUET is Dr. Mahbub Razzak. Hans Bodén visited Dhaka in April 2009, and discussed setting up joint courses. Dr. Razzak will come to KTH in the Fall 2009 to continue the discussions.