On May 21st, our Mid-Term Event was held to update the public on the current status of each of the project partners. Through numerous discussions, experiences were exchanged and content was debated. Participants were also able to immerse themselves in the VR demonstration "IHTApark" by project partner IHTA, where the environment around the IHTA was auralised and visualised on the basis of physical descriptions.

Another consortium meeting took place at ika yesterday! It was the last status meeting before the mid-term event in May and was primarily used to exchange information between the partners involved and to discuss current progress and challenges. At the mid-term event, progress to date will be presented and the exchange of experiences and joint work on future challenges will be encouraged. Are you interested in taking part in the mid-term event? Then register now!

The project partners ika and IHTA presented current project results at the DAGA.
Carolin Schliephake (ika) gave a presentation on the "Development of a deterministic modelling approach for the prediction of tyre-road noise". The prediction model was presented in 4 stages: In addition to the investigations at component level and those at overall vehicle level, the transferability between these levels of complexity and the model validation were discussed.Chalotorn Möhlmann (IHTA) gave a presentation on "Comparing Simulated and Measured Urban Traffic Noise". The study presented examined techniques for the auralisation of urban traffic noise. The auralisation techniques were validated by a comparative analysis of simulated and measured data in built environments. This was done using the statistical pass-by measurement method, which refines the auralisation models and helps to better understand the challenges of noise pollution. At the DAGA, numerous consortium partners could be met in addition to the technical presentations, so that the exchange within the consortium was strengthened once again. However, numerous interesting discussions were also held with research institutions and companies beyond the consortium, which emphasised the importance of a broad network and open exchange for the success of research through these diverse interactions.

The BaLSaM project has reached another milestone, and we would like to report on our sometimes very diverse content at this year's Aachen Acoustic Colloquium (AAC). We presented a total of three talks in a dedicated BaLSaM session, highlighting different aspects of our research and providing an insight into the diversity of our work.

Carolin Schliephake from ika and Chalotorn Möhlmann from IHTA spoke about the "Holistic Approach for Aurally Accurate Road Traffic Noise Reduction by Adaption of Traffic Routes and Infrastructure Planning." This presentation was primarily dedicated to tyre-road contact as a noise source and investigations to verify the sound propagation simulation.

Moritz Lippold from RHA then presented his lecture on "Urban Noise Protection Measures from the Perspective of Urban Designers - Case Study of the "Gräselberg - Auf den Eichen" Master Plan". In his lecture, he presented the results of the designed residential neighbourhood, which was created with a special focus on acoustic challenges and concepts. As an urban planner, he brought a breath of fresh air and a new perspective to the AAC.

Thiago Lobato from HEAD rounded off the trio of presentations and spoke about "Optimising the Estimation of Vehicle Sound Radiation Characteristics by Combining Numerical Models and Microphone Array Measurements".
The focus here was on a new approach to determining the radiation characteristics of tyre-road noise through a suitable combination of simulation and measurement data.

Participation on site not only enabled us to present our research results, but also to engage in in-depth technical dialogue.In addition to the normal project meetings, there were valuable discussions and personal conversations that further deepened the collaboration within the consortium. We are delighted with the response and interest in our work and look forward to incorporating the findings into the next phase of our project.