ASA is short for The Acoustical Society of America. It was founded by a group of scientists and researchers at Bell Telephone Laboratories in New York City on 27 December 1928 with a primary focus on acoustics. The first meeting of the society happened on 10–11 May 1929 with 450 contributors. As of today, ASA has nearly 7000 members around the world.
ASA’s focus is fundamentally variety of acoustic contexts, both theoretical and applied. The Technical Committees cover acoustical oceanography, animal bioacoustics, architectural acoustics, biomedical acoustics, engineering acoustics, musical acoustics, noise, physical acoustics, psychological and physiological acoustics, signal processing in acoustics, speech communication, structural acoustics and vibration, and underwater acoustics. This range is a distinctive strength of the Society because it promotes cross-disciplinary learning, collaboration, and interaction.
ASA publications include JASA (The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America), JASA-EL (JASA Express Letters), POMA (Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics), Acoustics Today, books, reprints, and videos. Biannual meetings foster professional and social interactions across careers, building a robust network of scientists and engineers.
ASA operates as a community, and sustaining cohesion across so many individuals must be demanding. Yet these generous people continue to sustain the ASA community and the field of acoustics.
Reference
Garrett, S. L. (2020). Understanding Acoustics: An Experimentalist’s View of Sound and Vibration. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44787-8