Continued from previous post.
It was probably the most physically challenging project I had ever undertaken. Most of the equipment involved were very heavy and required moving around and transporting to and from places, such as from the Acoustics Lab at NE3 to the CARI building back lot.
Taking measurements of green roof samples.
Stuff that were a struggle to move included an industrial scale used for weighing green roof specimen for water content, the speaker, and the specimen themselves: green roof plots reduced to a size of 1.4m^2, or about 1.2m x 1.2m x 22cm(thickness). Even at this “mini” size (as compared to a real green roof), the specimen weighed from 35kg to 60kg each (shall I spell H-E-A-V-Y??). The green roof samples were also very fragile (dirt/substrate and live vegetation!), and were extremely difficult to move for a person my size. I worked for days on end through lengthy hours of cold, rain, and darkness, all the while having lots of fun being resourceful and playing McGyver on various logistics details through drastic weather conditions.
This whole process taught me valuable lessons. For one, I have a new appreciation for researchers in general. Although logistics is rarely discussed in academic and/or industry publications (unless having material effect on experimental outcome), it matters a great deal. Logistics directly affects the feasibility of any experiment. For example, there were ingenious mechanical contraptions in the reverberant room to lift and hoist the microphone as high as 4.2m in the air, and then to move it to various positions for spatial averaging purposes— all without affecting the absorptive or reflective characteristics of the room.
Also, different tests used for measuring the same “parameter” (in my case material sound absorption) can be completely different in terms of resources required. There is a HUGE difference between measuring small (15cm diameter), lightweight pieces of foam insulation or acoustic tile samples in a standing wave tube, versus measuring green roof plots in a reverberation chamber with the green roof samples being comparatively huge, fragile to handle, and extremely heavy. For the former method, one (perhaps scrawny) scientist is plenty; while the latter method calls for a full crew of construction workers and all sorts of workshops to manufacture special, customized aids and contraptions. With this first-hand realization, I finally am able to truly appreciate how much “behind the scenes” work and enormous resources that may have gone into a research experiment than just some computers and the simple chart of numeric data being discussed on paper. Research is expensive!
Having had this challenging experience really helped me become more resourceful in designing my experimental set up for my thesis work. I witnessed how predecessors cleverly solved problems, and devised some new strategies myself as experiments progressed.
Most importantly for me was the operational experience in a real physical context. Having gone through this “training,” I even think differently now. In this day and age where most things are done in the virtual world or through computer simulation, hands-on, real life practice is extremely rare and thus very valuable. Instead of peering at things from behind a computer screen or attempting to learn only from paper, I am gaining a deep, visceral sense of how things really work in the reality of our earthly, physical environment. I get to use ALL of my senses, being keenly aware of things in my three-dimensional surrounds. I have a better sense of balance, I am more aware where “everything is”, and I am stronger. Yes, it can be hard and frustrating at first (no, things don’t magically happen via the fingertips through keyboards anymore, but via hard, physical toiling). But, through the process I am definitely happier and feel more connected and rooted in reality than ever before.