Sound Design

IET Faraday (from The Institute of Engineering and Technology) is an exciting year-long programme of resources, activities, competitions and events designed to inspire young people about science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

'Urban Evolution' - this year's theme looks at some of the most innovative structures we live amongst today, as well as what we might have in the future. As part of this theme they have showcased the work undertaken by Capita Symonds' Acoustics team on the O2 in Dublin.

"The Acoustic Engineering team were faced with a daunting challenge – turning the historic Point Theatre in Dublin into a 14,000-seat modern concert venue. The whole site had to be transformed and completely redeveloped from the existing warehouse space into a world-class venue with unparalleled acoustics. The challenge? The building is right in the centre of a residential area – requiring the acoustic team to come up with a solution that means the noise from the newly named O2 Dublin did not exceed its planning licensing limits." Find out more and watch the video on the IET Faraday website

My digital world

Kate Nelson, Principal Sustainability Consultant, Talks about her Digital World.

The original article appears on Building Sustainability Design's website

What is your favourite website?

I am hooked on www.etsy.com – its mission is to reconnect makers with buyers and it has a fantastic shop local function which hooks me into all the UK based designers and artists. As someone who works in responsible procurement, I love the idea of buying one-off, handmade items instead of mass produced goods.

What is your favourite gadget?

It isn’t really a gadget but last year I became a mac user and it was love at first drag and drop.

What’s the most useful website you access for your work?

I recently worked out that the best way to get the latest information was to stop subscribing to email newsletters and follow your favourites on twitter instead. It keeps your inbox clear and you can pick and choose what to follow up on. At the moment I am following Ethical Corporation, Building and the UN Climate Change 09 tweeters.

What was the last track you downloaded?

I am all about spotify.com at the moment where you can listen to most albums for free (legally!) but the last download was Useful Chamber by Dirty Projectors.

What was the subject of the last email you received?

Skittles! We are currently building an intranet for our sustainable design lab which will link our designers, architects, engineers, planners and project mangers together in sharing best practice and developing new tools for our projects. We have been inspired by the skittles website which plugs into twitter, flickr and youtube to generate content which means it is by the people for the people.

Social networking or face-to-face?

Hard to say, I am a fair weather friend of facebook but I can see its potential. At this stage I must say a conversation over a pint of ale is my preference.

Who is your favourite blogger?

My favourite blogger at the moment would have to be my friend Charlotte who is on gastro boot camp at the moment in Ireland - http://chopchop-charlotte.blogspot.com

Charlotte works for Sustain and she has helped me be a more ethical eater particularly when it comes to fish.

What’s been the best link you’ve ever been sent?

www.walkit.com – we are based on Victoria and I find I can walk to all my meetings instead of spending time cooped up in taxis and tubes.

What was the last thing you bought online?

A fruit and veg box from Abel and Cole

What was the funniest piece of spam you ever received?

Spammers have become so lazy so I haven’t had a good piece in ages, but I did hear a funny story about spam which involved a major tunnelling project and a filter which automatically deleted emails which included the word 'shaft'.

Big Gig, Big Cause

Capita Symonds and Capita in Blackburn have joined forces with Blackburn with Darwen Council and the NHS to offer a fantastic night of live music on Friday 16th October.

Bands featuring staff from across the partner organisations will be playing at the BIG gig in Blackburn in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust.

Blackburn Landscape Architect Nick Miller and his band - Second Hand Wings - will play tracks from his debut album ‘War of the Roses’. Also playing are local bands ‘shakeys brother’, ‘the majesticks’ and ‘luva gunk’. Tickets are free with fundraising on the night.

Donna Neely, Business Developer from the Blackburn office said "Following the success of the JAM Tribute night earlier this year we decided to hold another music event for our staff and partners. The BIG gig will raise valuable money for Teenage Cancer Trust and showcase some of the finest local talent. All of the bands are fantastic and I hope they receive lots of support from their colleagues on the night!"