Curriculum
Nicola Prodi
Personal information:
Date/Place of birth: March 1st 1971 / Reggio Emilia (Italy)
Sex/Age: Male / 52 years
Marital status: Married (with two boys)
Nationality: Italian
Office: Department of Engineering, Università di Ferrara
Via G. Saragat, 1 - 44122 Ferrara (Italy)
Contacts: +39 0532974861, +39 3204232936 (Mob)
E-mail: nicola.prodi@unife.it
Qualification: Associate Professor, ING-IND/11
Positions:
01/11/2014 - present: Associate Professor, Dept. of Engineering, University of Ferrara
01/11/2005 - 31/10/2014: Researcher, Dept. of Engineering, University of Ferrara
01/11/1997 - 31/10/2005: Research Assistant, Dept. of Engineering, University of Ferrara
01/03/1995 - 30/06/1997: Junior Researcher (IMAMOTER Institute – C.N.R., Cassana, Ferrara, Italy)
Education:
21/03/2001: PhD in Technical Physics, University of Bologna
16/12/1994: MSc in Physics (cum Laude), University of Bologna
02/07/1993: Intermediate Diploma in Opera Singing at “O. Vecchi” Musical Institute, Modena
09/07/1990: Diploma in Oboe, “A. Peri” Musical Institute, Reggio Emilia
Institutional roles:
- Research coordinator for the topic “Room, Virtual and Psychoacoustics” of the MECHLAV Laboratory, Technopole of the University of Ferrara (from 2012)
- Member of the Academic Board of the Doctorate in Engineering Science of the University of Ferrara (from 2015)
- Member of the Students Professors Peer Commission of the Dept. of Eng. (2017 - 2021)
- Responsible for the Teaching Tutorship of the Dept. of Eng. (2014 – 2017)
Main research areas:
Room acoustics; hearing systems; noise control.
Selected research topics:
- Room acoustics: reverberation and propagation theory, measurements and scale models; virtual acoustics and auralization;
- Sound perception and psychoacoustics; speech intelligibility; listening effort; cognitive effects of noise;
- Acoustical properties of materials.
- Theory and measurement of sound intensity;
Supervisor of scientific research projects (5 years):
- Ministry of Education and Research (MIUR) - PRIN2022: “LearN: Learning in Noise” (2023-2025); Budget: 137k€.
- EURAC Research, Bolzano (IT): “Evaluating the impact of facade-integrated controlled ventilation on speech intelligibility, listening effort and indoor soundscapes in educational buildings”. PhD research program (2021 – 2024); Budget: 75k€.
- Emilia-Romagna Region: POR FESR 2014-20 – Axis 1 Action 1.2.2 (2019) – Project COMPRENDO: “Technological components for inclusion in teaching and education” (2019 - 2022); Budget: 92k€.
- INAIL BRiC ID14/2018: " ANC e AVC technology for the protection of workers and prevention of extra-auditory effects” (2019 – 2021); Budget: 160k€.
- INAIL BRiC ID26/2016: "Definition of new guidelines for design, building and certification of machines and environments" (2017 - 2019); Budget: 170k€.
- Consorzio Futuro in Ricerca: “Development and validation of auditory scenarios for sleep induction”. IOF srl (2022-2023). Budget: 71.9k€.
- Consorzio Futuro in Ricerca: “Evaluation of listening effort in hearing impaired subjects or with tinnitus”. Fondazione Ascolta e Vivi (2022-2023). Budget: 22.4k€.
- Consorzio Futuro in Ricerca: “Sound quality of Electrolux white goods”, Electrolux Porcia (UD) Plant (2019 - 2022); Budget: 78k€.
Research and seminars at International research Institutions:
- Jean-Urmacher Institut, Köln University (D) (10/09/2019)
- Univestitad des Tres de Februero, Buenos Aires (14/09/2016)
- School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia (05/02/2015 - 14/02/2015)
- Excellence Center Hearing 4All - Oldenburg University (D) (01/07/2013)
- South China University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building Science, Guangzhou (01/06/2011 - 24/06/2011)
- Madrid Polytechnic University (22/03/2011; 10/02/2010)
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kobe University (J) (25/08/2000 - 30/09/2000)
- Institut fur Technische Akustik, RWTH Aachen (D) (01/10/1997 - 06/12/1997)
- Acoustics Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, (01/04/1996 - 30/06/1996)
Publications and bibliometric indicators on SCOPUS (October 30th, 2023):
- Documents: 96
- Citations: 958
- H-index: 17
Relevant publications (4 years)
1)Visentin C., Torresin S., Pellegatti M., Prodi N., Indoor soundscape in primary school classrooms. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 September 2023; 154 (3): 1813–1826.
2)Visentin, C., Pellegatti, M., Garraffa, M. Di Domenico A., Prodi N. (2023), Individual characteristics moderate listening effort in noisy classrooms. Sci Rep 13, 14285.
3)Visentin, C., Pellegatti, M., Garraffa, M., Di Domenico, A., Prodi, N. (2023), Be Quiet! Effects of Competing Speakers and Individual Characteristics on Listening Comprehension for Primary School Students, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023, 20(6), 4822.
4)Prodi N. (2023),Comments on “Indicators and methods for assessing acoustical preferences and needs of students in educational buildings: A review” [Applied Acoustics 202 (2023) 109187] by A. Hamida et al. Applied Acoustics, 2023, 207, 109362
5)Pellegatti, M., Torresin, S., Visentin, C., Babich, F., Prodi, N. (2023), Indoor soundscape, speech perception, and cognition in classrooms: A systematic review on the effects of ventilation-related sounds on students, Building and Environment, 2023, 236, 110194
6)Prodi, N., Pellegatti, M., Visentin, C., (2023). Comparing the effects of scattered and specular sound reflections on speech intelligibility in rooms, Building and Environment, 228,109881.
7)Prodi, N., Pellegatti, M., Visentin, C., (2022) Effects of type of early reflection, clarity of speech, reverberation and diffuse noise on the spatial perception of a speech source and its intelligibility, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 151(5), 3522-3434.
8)Prodi N, Visentin C. (2022) A Slight Increase in Reverberation Time in the Classroom Affects Performance and Behavioral Listening Effort. Ear Hear. 43(2), 460–476. – Best 2022 Paper Editorial Award
9)Visentin, C., & Prodi, N. (2021). How Reliable are 11-to 13-Year-Olds’ Self-Ratings of Effort in Noisy Conditions?. Frontiers in Built Environment, 108.
10)Visentin C., Valzolgher C., Pellegatti M., Potente P., Pavani F., Prodi N. (2021). A comparison of simultaneously-obtained measures of listening effort: pupil dilation, verbal response time and self-rating, International Journal of Audiology,. doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2021.1921290
11)Prodi N., Visentin C., Borella E., Mammarella I. C., A. Di Domenico A. (2021). Using speech comprehension to qualify communication in classrooms: influence of listening condition, task complexity and students’ age and linguistic abilities, Applied Acoustics, 182, 108239. doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2021.108239
12)Caviola S., Visentin C., Borella E., Mammarella I. C., Prodi N. (2021). Out of the Noise: Effects of sound environment on maths performance in middle-school students, Journal of Environmental Psychology, 73, 101552. doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101552
13)Visentin, C.; Prodi, N.; Cappelletti, F.; Torresin, S.; Gasparella, A. (2019). Speech intelligibility and listening effort in university classrooms for native and non-native Italian listeners, Building Acoustics 26 (4), 275-29.
14)Prodi, N.; Visentin, C. (2019). Impact of background noise fluctuations and reverberation on response time in a speech reception task, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 62 (11), 4179-4195.
15)Prodi, N.; Visentin, C.; Borella, E.; Mammarella, I. C.; Di Domenico, A. (2019). Noise, age and gender effects on speech intelligibility and sentence comprehension for 11-to 13-year-old children in real classrooms, Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2166.
16)Prodi, N.; Visentin, C.; Peretti, A.; Griguolo, J.; Bartolucci, G. (2019). Investigating Listening Effort in Classrooms for 5-to 7-Year-Old Children, Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 50(2), 196-210.
Participation to Editorial Boards of journals
- Member of the Editorial Board of the journal “Rivista Italiana di Acustica” (2014-2019)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of the journal “Canadian Acoustics” entitled “Murray Hodgson’s Special Issue” (2019)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue of “Frontiers in the Built Environment” entitled “Acoustics in the Built Environment: a challenge for improving the quality of life” (2021)
Invited lectures, keynotes and session organization at International Congresses
- Invited lectures: ICA2001, ICA2004, ICA2007, Acoustics2008, Internoise2009, Internoise2010, The Acoustics of Ancient Theatres 2011, Internoise2013, ICSV22, Euronoise2015, Acoustics2017, Euronoise2018, ICA2019, EFAS2019, Forum Acusticum2020, Euronoise2021, Internoise2022, Forum Acusticum2023
- Keynote lecture at the International Congress AIA-DAGA 2013; title: “Acoustics of Italian historical opera houses: past, present, and future”;
- Organizer of Special Sessions: ISMA2001, Internoise2013, ICSV22, Acoustics2017, Euronoise2018, ASA-CAA2018, ICA2019, Forum Acusticum 2020, Euronoise2021, ICA2022, The Acoustics of Ancient Theatres2020, Forum Acusticum 2023
- Technical Chair for Room Acoustics at International Congress ISMRA2016 in La Plata, Argentina.
- Scientific Committee of ICBEN2023
Scientific advisor
- PhD projects: Tutor (4), Co-supervisor (6) and external advisor (6)
- Scientific advisor for the funding institution Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO) (Brussels, B)
- Member of the working groups ISOWG19/SC2 on room-acoustical measures;
Reviewer for International journals
- American Institute of Physics Press: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
- Elsevier: Journal of Sound and Vibration; Applied Acoustics; Building and Environment; Speech Communication
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research; Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools
- Frontiers: Frontiers in the Built Environment, Frontiers in Education
- Hirzel-Verlag: Acta Acustica united with Acustica
- Wiley Online Library: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
- SAGE: Trends in Hearing, Building Acoustics
- ACM: Journal of Computing and Cultural Heritage
- Taylor and Francis Online: Journal of Cognitive Psychology, International Journal of Audiology
- American Psychological Association: Journal of Experimental Psychology
- Medknow: Noise and Health
- Canadian Acoustical Association: Journal of Canadian Acoustics
Other relevant information
- Awarded the “Best 2022 Paper” from the journal “Ear and Hearing” (JIF rank #1 in 2022 for the category Audiology & Speech -Language Pathology)
- Member of the Scientific Board of the Centre "I–APPROVE – International Auditory Processing Project in Venice" of the University of Padova
- Italian Patent n. RM99 A 000490 - "Procedures and instrumentation for the measurement of the polarization of the acoustical intensity”
- Italian Patent request n. 102023000007413 – “Dispositivo per favorire l’addormentamento di un utente (Apparatus to facilitate the sleep of a user)”
- Founder of "MATERIACUSTICA Srl", spin-off company from the University of Ferrara working in the R&D area of acoustics and vibration (02-12-2004 ongoing)
- Chartered Acoustics Consultant (ENTECA N°RER/00749)
