Harmonising Careers: From Music to Acoustics in Construction
Lee Parkin
Role at Cahill Design Consultants
Assistant Acoustic Consultant
Experience working in Acoustics:
1 Year
Top Tip for someone new to the industry:
Learn everything you can from everyone and be open to all ideas. Be a sponge to all the information around you, directly related to your field or not, as it is all useful. Enjoy the learning process, it’s a great industry for this!
Lee’s Acoustic Journey
I’ve always had a fascination with music and that’s what led me to take my degree in Music. The course concentrated on jazz, improvisation and teaching. After university, I became a music teacher and after doing this for several years, I wanted to see what other career options there were. Teaching was good but after a while I wanted a change of direction.
I have a friend in the industry who thought I’d be a good fit and a viable change of career for me. They had worked with Cahill Design Consultants previously too and recommended it as a good place to work.
A career in Acoustics really fed into my interests. I’ve always loved sound, the frequencies of sound – it’s a real fascination. Even though it is not music related, this role was the perfect crossover, understanding how sound travels and wavelengths. Moving from the more engineering mixing side to the relationship of sound with buildings and sculpting sounds.
The role also fits well with my interest and skills in data analysis. Excel coding and the maths and science side are something I find super interesting in the job as well.
I am really enjoying my time with CDC. I’ve learned loads and that’s what’s key in this field. I’ve been greeted with so much help and advice and everyone is so giving with their time and that has made my experience of getting into the industry a lot easier and smoother than I imagined.
First impressions of the Acoustic Industry
It’s been really good. I give a lot of credit to the team here at CDC, the speed in which I’ve been able to learn, and progress is down to leadership and technical knowledge here.
The industry is exciting because it is constantly evolving. There are always new things to learn, even within a niche like acoustics you have psychoacoustics, underwater acoustics, soundscapes. You must be adaptable and able to pick new things up. It is an evolving science with new studies being published daily which feeds inquisitiveness!
I really enjoy the problem-solving element too. It is great to make a positive difference on a job. I like the puzzle of ‘how can we fix this’ and applying your knowledge and researching things. Solving a particular issue and that sense of accomplishment – seeing a project through and putting your skills to use in a positive way.
Favourite part of the role and future aspirations
The best part about my experience so far is the team – I really enjoy coming in to work every day! I love attaining knowledge and learning things and that’s exactly what I’ve been able to do.
I can’t wait to get stuck in on some more complex jobs, like Park Modern or The Gruffalo.
The Gruffalo had the added element of the sea life center and working out how to keep noise and vibrations from harming the fish in the construction phase. I’d like to work on a project with some challenging complexities like that.
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