Biography

Dr. Bhan, Lam is a dedicated researcher and academic in the field of environmental noise control and soundscapes. He completed his B.Eng. (Hons.) and Ph.D. degrees at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 2013 and 2019, respectively. He was awarded the NTU Research Scholarship and EEE Graduate Award, which supported his Ph.D. studies under the guidance of Prof. Woon-Seng Gan. During his Ph.D., Dr. Lam was accepted as a visiting postgrad in the signal processing and control group at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, UK, where he contributed significantly to formulating physical limits of active noise control of open apertures.

Dr. Lam’s research focuses on acoustics, soundscape, and signal processing for active control. He has contributed to the field with more than 90 refereed journal articles and conference papers. Notably, his patented anti-noise windows (WO2022055432) was shown to significantly reduce perceived annoyance and loudness of typical urban noise through open windows. This work was published in Nature Scientific Reports and was recognized as a top-100 paper in 2020. Most recently, his patent-pending AI-based soundscape augmentation system (WO-2023211385-A1) underwent successful field trials in a residential estate in collaboration with the Housing and Development Board of Singapore, effectively transforming a traffic-exposed site into an environment of comparable pleasantness to a shielded location.

Beyond the key ANC and soundscape achievements, Dr. Lam has a diverse portfolio of engagements spanning private and public sectors, as well as international projects. Collaborating with two construction companies, he co-developed and field-tested a patent-pending portable anti-noise system (PCT/SG2024/050046) that significantly reduces low-frequency hum from gensets. He also partnered with Singapore General Hospital to assess sound perception among hospital occupants and analyzed soundscapes in neonatal intensive care units to mitigate noise impacts on neonates. Recently, he collaborated with the Home Team Science and Technology Agency and the Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped to develop and validate spatial auditory cues for wayfinding without sight. Internationally, Dr. Lam is part of a University College London-led consortium developing and validating translation methodologies for cross-cultural and linguistic applications of the ISO 12913 standards series.

Dr. Lam’s contributions and expertise have been recognized on numerous occasions. He had the honor of being an invited representative at the 2020 Global Young Scientist Summit, World Cities Summit 2024 Young Leader, and also served as an invited tutorial speaker at APSIPA ASC 2020. In 2021, he was appointed as a Research Assistant Professor at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, NTU, Singapore. He was also invited to present his work internationally at renowned institutions including NASA Ames Research Centre, Chungnam National University, Architectural Institute of Korea, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Hyundai Motor Group Namyang R&D Center, IEEE Kansai Section at Kansai University, and Huawei Technologies Japan KK.

Dr. Lam’s dedication to the advancement of his field is evident through his involvement as a guest editor with the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Sustainability, and served as a special session co-chair in the 2022 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP). He is currently in the National Mirror Committee of ISO TC43/SC1/WG54 on “Perceptual assessment of soundscape quality”, as well as an ambassador of East & South-East Asia Regional Chapter of Acoustical Society of America.

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Electrical & Electronic Engineering) | Nanyang Technological University | 2019

  • Awarded NTU Research Scholarship & EEE graduate award. The PhD thesis investigated active noise control systems for open windows.

  • Bachelor of Engineering (Information Engineering & Media) | Nanyang Technological University | 2013

  • Obtained Honours (Distinction) in a multi-disciplinary degree.

  • Visiting Postgrad | Institute of Sound & Vibration Research, University of Southampton, SO, UK | Jan – Jul 2015 Mentored by Prof. Stephen J. Elliott. Researched on the acoustic diffraction effects of sound waves through open windows, resulting in 2 journal and 3 conference publications.

Experience

  • Research Fellow → Research Assistant Professor | Nanyang Technological University | 2019 – present

  • Lead researcher in designing the internet-of-things based soundscape monitoring and augmentation system for outdoor recreational spaces. Also, aiding the research effort on a scalable active noise control system to mitigate low-frequency urban transportation noise through domestic windows and construction machinery.

  • Consultancy | 2020 – present

  • Completed consultancy projects:

    • Amazon Inc.
    • SAV Group (real estate)
    • Housing and Development Board, China Construction (South Pacific) Development Co, and Kay Lim Holdings.
    • Home Team Science and Technology Agency

Memberships

  • National Mirror Committee (ISO/TC43/SC1/WG54) | Singapore Standards Council | 2022 – present

    Spearheaded and currently leading the involvement of Singapore in the development of the ISO 12913 series of standards on soundscape.

  • Member | IEEE | 2018 – present

    Graduate student member in 2018 and subsequently a member in 2019 - present

Editorial & Peer Review

Editorial

Peer review

  • Verified peer reviews: 146
  • Reviewer for:
    • IEEE/ACM T Audio Speech | IEEE Signal Process. Let.
    • Build. Environ. | Appl. Acoust. | J. Sound. Vib | Mech. Syst. Signal Process. | Digital Sig. Process. | Sust. Cities Soc. | Landsc. Urban Plan
    • J. Acoust. Soc. Am.

Intellectual Property

  • A System And Method For Automatic Augmentation Of Soundscapes | WO-2023211385-A1 | PCT Application No: PCT/SG2023/050289 | 26 Apr 2023
  • A System and Method for Active Noise Control with Power Output Constraint | 10202300315Y | PCT Application No: PCT/SG2024/050046 | 8 Feb 2023
  • Noise Cancellation Device Fitted On Openable Façade Openings | 11202261452U | Singapore (National Phase Entry from PCT Application No: PCT/SG2021/050549) | 10 Sep 2021
  • A Novel Convolutional Neural Network-Based Selective Fixed-Filter Active Noise Control Algorithm | 10202250148C | Non-Drafted Singapore Patent Application | 13 Jun 2022
  • Augmented Urban Soundscape (AUS) | Technical Disclosure | NTU, SG | 1 Apr 2020
  • Low Cost, Scalable And Multiple Channel Active Noise Control For Open Windows | 10201802277R | Non-Drafted Singapore Patent Application | 20 Mar 2018

Media Interviews and Features

Projects

Collaborators