Metasonixx, a spin-out company from the University of Sussex and University of Bristol, has been awarded the 2024 Institute of Physics (IOP) Business Award for the development of acoustic metamaterial panels to help with noise reduction and ventilation, in spaces like offices and hospitals.
Led by CEO Prof Gianluca Memoli, of the University of Sussex, Metasonixx focuses on technology to shape sound in new and innovative ways, delivering sound to specific areas or individuals or cancelling out unwanted sound.
During the 2020 lockdown, the Metasonixx team obtained a UKRI grant to solve a pressing issue: noise in hospital surroundings. Noise had a severe impact on patient healing and staff wellbeing, and conventional treatments were simply ineffective.
The work led to the creation of innovative acoustic metamaterial panels — modular, lightweight, space-efficient, and environmentally friendly. These panels were designed to block noise while also allowing airflow, enabling improvements to noise management and ventilation, and facilitating net-zero industrial ventilators and heat pumps.
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