• Volpe's Work
  • Volpe Subsites
    • Acoustics
      • Mission Statement
      • Projects
      • Technical Information
      • Publications and Papers
      • Clients
      • Contact Acoustics
      • Links
  • Technology Transfer
  • Volpe Technical Experts
  • Volpe Organizational Chart

Volpe Center Acoustics Facility Staff Biography

Dave Read

Dave Read is a Computer Specialist at the Volpe Center Acoustics Facility. He has been involved in transportation-related noise work at the Center since 1986, and has a strong background in acoustics and recording, including seven years as manager of the Audio Recording Department of the New England Conservatory of Music, and three years as an instructor at the Boston School of Electronic Music. His responsibilities include: Software design, coding and modification; Performance of acoustical field measurements; Evaluation of acoustical instrumentation, software, and methodologies used by applicants for FAA noise certifications; and Technical writing for national and international transportation noise-related standards, guidelines, and regulations.

In support of FAA, he participates in technical activities of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Working Group 1 Task Groups, evaluating and developing technical regulations and guidelines for aircraft noise certification. He also participates in various noise measurement programs, which have included ambient noise measurements at several National Parks, such as Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Biscayne Bay, Everglades, Big Cypress, and Crocodile Lake. He has also participated in special aircraft noise research programs in support of FAA with NASA, FBI, and the aircraft industry, including Bell/Textron's XV-15 Tiltrotor prototype, NASA's Propfan Testbed Aircraft, McDonnell-Douglas' MD-900 NOTAR helicopter, and in support of the US Postal Service, Bell/Textron's LACV-30 hovercraft, and British Hovercraft's AP.1-88 hovercraft operating in Alaska.

Other work in support of FAA has included community noise measurements related to the Expanded East Coast Plan, and validation of hardware, software, and methodologies used by noise certification applicants, including BOEING Long Beach Division, McDonnell-Douglas Helicopter, Sikorsky Helicopter, Raytheon, Gulfstream, and many others. He has also been instrumental in FAA's efforts at harmonization of aircraft noise certification regulations with ICAO and other international agencies.

In support of FHWA, he has participated in highway noise measurements in many states, including over 6000 individual vehicle pass-by measurements for the Reference Energy Mean Emission Level (REMEL) database, used for development of FHWA's Traffic Noise Model (TNM), and more recently, in extensive long-term studies of pavement noise for Caltrans and Arizona DOT.