Celebrating 50 years of Outrageous Engineering
1974 was a momentous year for many reasons. The harmony of ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest with the hit Waterloo. Stephen King published his debut novel, Carrie. Germany beat Netherlands to take the FIFA World Cup. And President Richard Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal.
It was also the year Aercoustics Engineering Limited was founded. Celebrating a golden anniversary is a major milestone but, after 50 years, I am proud to say that Aercoustics still holds true to our pioneering roots in the acoustics, noise, and vibration arena. The work we have done since we opened our office is based on our passion for Outrageous Engineering and our dedication to innovation in acoustic engineering.
The name of our company came from our original work analysing and assessing aerodynamic noise from aircraft propellers. Now we provide acoustical solutions designed to enhance any experience. We have expanded our acoustical expertise into new areas, including architectural acoustics, renewable energy, transit and environmental noise. Innovation drives us and we continue to stay curious to find new ways to solve challenges for our clients.
Treat people right
Our success over the last 50 years has been fueled by our people. We have always believed people are intrinsically motivated and we expect everyone to always treat people fairly. And we have some fun along the way. Investing in a team built on those principles has helped drive the growth of our firm. We have an incredible team of designers and specialists that have always risen to the challenge to solve the next noise or vibration conundrum in acoustical engineering.
Creating an environment and culture means we have a large contingent of long-term employees at Aercoustics. We actively develop talent and leadership within the firm, and we provide opportunities for people to grow and stretch their skills, so they continue to be challenged by what they are working on. We are proud that many of our summer student interns choose to start their careers with us and then flourish within the company.
We continue to be dedicated to building a welcoming and engaging work culture. People need to be engaged in their work. Our Rogue Days are a good example of how we bring the entire team together to innovate and spark ideas within acoustical engineering. Once a quarter, employees pursue personal areas of interest and experiment for a day. This sharing of ideas has led to new innovations for our clients or proprietary tools that help our business.
Innovate. Solve. Repeat.
We have also had the good fortune of working with tremendous clients who challenge and inspire us. Solving project challenges is a big part of what we do but we also work hard to broaden and deepen relationships with the clients and partners who have supported us over the last 50 years.
Every project is an achievement. In the last 50 years, some of our proudest moments in acoustic engineering include:
- Delivering the first commercial outdoor active noise cancellation system
- Designing and working on the world’s first stacked studios
- Developing methods of measuring noise from cogeneration plants under extremely high temperatures
- Developing Ontario’s method to measure noise and optimise acoustics in wind turbines
- Building in-house monitoring solutions that are widely used in transit and construction
- Designing and delivering custom-tuned mass damper solutions
- Being at the forefront of the acoustics behind mass timber buildings, supporting numerous high-profile projects.
And we have shared our “do the impossible” projects and knowledge with the industry. We have actively pursued and conducted research and experiments on acoustics concepts and designs to bring ideas and solutions to market. We have also published our work in industry articles, papers and blog related to acoustic engineering.
Punch above your weight
2024 was a milestone year for the company and where we celebrated our accomplishments in acoustical engineering. But we will also continue to push forward with Outrageous Engineering ideas and projects, so we are challenged for the next 50 years. From the founders who set us on this path to former employees to our current employees, we thank everyone who helped contribute to our success as we celebrated our golden anniversary.
