INCE Member Andy Carballeira on Innovation, Acoustics, and Inclusion

I recently sat down with Andy Carballeira, a Principal and Innovation Lead at Acentech. You may have caught the recent INCE-hosted webinar on pickleball sponsored by the Pennsylvania Recreation & Park Society, to which he contributed acoustical insight. Or perhaps you caught his NoiseCon 2024 paper entitled “A Collaborative Approach to Low-Frequency Noise Mitigation” with co-authors Matt Downy, Dave Keelty, Ken Kalisky, Richard Single, and Greg Tocci.

In talking with Andy, I was struck by how much he cares about how sound and noise affect all people, including the minority who might be considered outliers in their sensitivity to noise. “Hearing varies radically,” he said, and “in a crypto-ableist society” he wants to solve acoustic problems even for the most sensitive of us, not just the 95% percent of those who are not bothered.

Andy first aspired to be a musician but found that a music career wasn’t totally agreeing with his ambitions and lifestyle. Andy received his BM in Music Production and Engineering from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.  He has taught acoustics and mathematics courses at the New England Conservatory of Music and the Berklee. Andy was previously a Senior Acoustical Consultant at Cavanaugh Tocci Associates, Inc. and continues his consulting career as a Principal at Acentech, where he is currently the Innovation Lead. Andy is a Board Certified INCE Member.

Read on for a summary of the roving conversation I had with Andy.

Q. As Acentech’s Innovation Lead, can you tell us a bit about The Lab @ Acentech?

Innovation is part of the Acentech brand and culture, and as a wholly employee-owned firm (ESOP) I’m proud that we have balanced company earnings with innovation, research, and staff development. My role is as a “Gardener of Inquiry,” where I get to be a champion of innovation and creativity. Some of the more vigorous ideas will hopefully grow from seeds into viable, profitable concepts for our profession.

The Lab @ Acentech (https://lab.acentech.com/) is a new microsite we are growing that showcases topics our employees are passionate about. A great example of this is the creation of the site’s opening music: it was recorded in an anechoic chamber, assembled in Max/MSP, and rendered within a specific performance space (the recital hall at UMass Boston) to realistically recreate what that music would sound like in that specific space. We hope to bring more listening experiences to laypeople and our clients to help give those outside of our profession a better vocabulary of acoustical concepts, to advance awareness of noise. A listening experience is this thing we can all share, and The Lab @ Acentech hopes to advance acoustics in this way. We’ll be adding more discussions and content to the site going forward.

Q. How have you benefited from being mentored?

The first 14 years of my consulting career took place at Cavanaugh Tocci, where there was a strong culture of mentorship and professional service. One of my first mentors and teachers was Bill Cavanaugh, aka “Cav.” I am grateful that I was able to interview Bill toward the end of his life through the American Institute of Physics. The product of that interview is available here: https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/45493. Bill had a great way of mentoring our staff, and I try to do the same for others at Acentech. Promoting and participating in professional societies was a cornerstone of Bill’s career, and I’m inspired by that example.

Q. What words of advice do you have for the incoming consultants?

Teaching and mentoring is my favorite part of this whole gig! As mentors, it’s important to create the right context for mentorship: a peer-to-peer exploration of goals and challenges. Good mentoring is a conversation.

When I have the chance to work with incoming consultants, I try to put myself in their shoes and empathize with their journey. I’m no fountain of wisdom, but there are some recurring themes that seem useful:

1. Disagree with ideas and respect the people that hold them.
2. If your professional life doesn’t engage you and speak to your passions, think creatively about how you might get there. Tell the Universe what you really want and be open to its response.
3. Get involved in professional societies like INCE and ASA, become Board Certified, write papers, question established wisdom, learn from your critics.
4. Remember we are all imposters – it’s OK to have the syndrome irrespective of your education, experience, or background. You work with some brilliant people – they hired you for a reason.

Q. What is a favorite quote of yours?

“It’s not the sage on the stage, it’s the guide on the side.”

When not working, Andy Carballeira might be found hugging his family, pulling up carrots, crashing a CNC plasma cutter, or runout over sketchy trad gear.

INCE Member Spotlights are an occasional series highlighting an INCE member doing interesting work.  Let us know who we should talk with next, email ST@45dB.com.