Freshman Finish: SAI’s First Year
Friends, colleagues, and all who know us well know that celebration is in order for this edition of the SAI Blog, as Shively Acoustics International (SAI) marks its first anniversary! 🎉🎉🎉 Although we trace our company roots back more than a decade — and our professional experience even further — SAI itself is a newer venture. The latest iteration of our 38 years of uninterrupted presence in the audio and automotive industries, Shively Acoustics International, LLC, was officially founded by president and CEO Roger Shively on March 29, 2023, now just over a year ago.
One of the inspirational magnolias from last spring (Photo: SAI)
The winds of change were blowing in March of last year, and on the patio of a suburban home in Washington state, Roger was awaiting inspiration for the look of the new company. And then it arrived, in the form of the graceful white magnolias that had just began to bloom. Rich in symbolism, the magnolia stands for a variety of qualities, among them perseverance, determination, commitment, originality, and independent thinking. As one of the oldest flowering plants on Earth — first blooming tens of millions of years ago — the magnolia also represents longevity and stability. With ancient roots supporting the foundation of new beginnings, it was a fitting embodiment of our new endeavor, and an abstract magnolia is the flower in our company logo that you all have come to recognize by now.
The forces of the universe drove the point even further home when, the very next day, Korean television was welcoming the arrival of spring with a song about the magnolia (목련 moglyeon), one that Roger’s wife told him was sung yearly at school in Korea. Behind the singer on stage were sweeping arches “intersecting like waves of sound”, recalls Roger, which form the basis for the stylization of the magnolia seen in our logo. The finishing brushstroke was celadon green, a prominent color of pottery in Korea and other Asian cultures. As we mark the first anniversary of SAI, we thought it was the perfect time to share this anecdote with you all.
Let’s fast forward. SAI’s freshman year was full of activity, as readers will know from these monthly blogs and our regular posts on social media. The new company has seamlessly and without pause picked up where our previous enterprise left off, carrying our torch into the future, both now brighter than ever.
As we pivot towards the start of our sophomore season, Roger answered a few questions about the previous year, the current state of the company, what lies ahead for SAI, and more. Here’s what he had to say. . .
SAI: Shively Acoustics International is the latest iteration of the work you’ve been doing for a long time. Could you give us an idea of the timeline of your work in the industry that led up to SAI?
The SAI founder at company HQ (Photo: SAI)
Roger: After graduating from Purdue University, I joined Harman-Motive (now Harman International) in January 1986 as a transducer design engineer. My background in acoustics and computational physics was attractive to the late Sydney Harman’s automotive audio company, which felt more like what a start-up is today.
In that era of the automotive industry, the summer months were usually slow for development, so we would use that time for research. That meant trial and error in the lab, building an understanding of why things worked, and why they didn't. This led to objective and subjective experiments in psycho-acoustics, which in turn gave us insights into how people perceive sound inside of a car and how to design for improving this perception. This also led to applying both finite element (FEM) and boundary element methods (BEM) to write some of the first programs for analyzing and designing new loudspeakers. Our research fostered innovations in both design and sound field management.
From product design and research, I moved into the acoustic systems group, which applied all we had learned at a system level. I started out on our Mitsubishi branded audio client and would eventually become Chief Engineer of Acoustic Systems for all of our customer accounts in North America and the Far East. During this time, I also continued conducting research and publishing it. Over the years, we opened offices in Japan and Korea, before finally being asked to help open an office in China. By then I was not only Chief Engineer of Acoustic Systems, but also the overall Acoustics Manager.
In 2011, having parted ways with Harman after 25 years, I co-founded an acoustical consulting company, working not only in automotive audio, but also in consumer and personal audio. That company was the precursor to what is now Shively Acoustics International, which I founded a year ago.
SAI: When it became clear that a fresh start was on the horizon, how did things look and feel at the time? Were there any uncertainties or challenges associated with the transition?
Roger: There is always uncertainty. But it happened pretty quickly and in mid-air, so to speak. There wasn’t much time to consider the events, other than to make sure there was no loss in the continuity of the work from one day to the next.
SAI: Looking back on the past year, what moments stand out as evidence that Shively Acoustics was on the right track?
Roger: Just the overall confidence in us that our customers gave without question. They all reached out and were positive about the evolution into SAI. It was reassuring.
SAI: Compared with a year ago, where does the company stand now? How have things progressed or changed?
Roger: It was a busier year, and a fuller year, than I can remember us ever having. And the work we were involved in was not just in one area, as it had been.
SAI: What have been some of these new areas that the company is exploring?
Roger: On the one hand, we continued with product and system design for automotive, consumer, and personal audio — work that we have always been involved in — including small and large computer simulations. On the other hand, some newer things SAI has been working on, for example, are acoustical applications for new health care products that use tactile vibrational feedback, i.e. haptics, as well as bone conduction audio product design and simulation. We’ve also expanded our work into architectural acoustics considerably, while also adding pro audio product design and simulation to the mix.
SAI: As an industry expert, tell our readers a bit about the current state of the world of Audio, how it is evolving, and what challenges or trends are arising.
Roger: That’s a big topic, but generally speaking, the focus is on improving personal audio and how it is seamlessly connected to every part of our daily lives. We talk about so-called wearables and hearables, as well as connectivity to our situational environments: whether at home, at a desk, in a car, or in an airport, our audio experience will become more smoothly integrated in the future. There is so much more than just that, but that is one of the big parts of the future roadmap of Audio.
SAI: Where does SAI and your work fit into this picture?
Roger: Going further back, before SAI, we were fortunate to start working in Audio when the industry was relatively young and not yet fully formed with the different lanes that exist today. We learned about transducers and how to manufacture them best across the different areas of pro, consumer, personal, and automotive audio. We started our learning in an analog age, moved into a digital DSP-based age, and on into a highly evolved version of all of that. There has always been something new to understand and improve.
SAI: And so is that what sets SAI apart from others in the industry?
“Our goal is to find our place in the world and continue to make it better for everyone.”
Roger: I think that history, having seen and been responsible (in part) for where the industry is today, and our ability to look at every new design as if it were the first time, allows us to use our vast experience and knowledge to set a bar for starting a new project that might involve innovation or the refinement of an existing idea. We like solving problems and putting new ideas onto the market in the most efficient way possible, getting them out of R&D and into practical listening use.
SAI: What about the scope of the company? Who do you work with, and how are these collaborations necessary for the job at hand?
Roger: We work at many different levels of development, whether with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) who is making the end product for a customer, or tiers below that, such as for suppliers and secondary manufacturers. Working at the lower levels of development gives us insight into the tools or solutions that might be available for a given problem that a manufacturer wants to solve, or a gap they would like to fill. We can help benchmark the market, identify gaps, design, simulate, and develop at any different level that is useful. We are very flexible in that regard.
SAI: Something that the company is heavily involved with is the Audio Product Development Alliance. As an APDA chair, what role do you play in the alliance, and in what ways do SAI and APDA benefit each other?
Roger: The APDA is meant to explore, understand, and provide an education in many areas of audio product development. I chair the Modeling and Measurement and the Automotive Audio pillars. The other pillars include Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, DSP and Speech Recognition, Product Management, and the all-important Supply Chain. Across the alliance, there is a connection with all levels of development from suppliers to designers to manufacturers. The more we explore and connect with them, the more we learn and bring in new designs and — sometimes — maybe inspire something new.
The APDA was formed because we felt there was a gap between the expertise of newer product developers and those who had the advantage of experiencing the longer history of development. So, it’s a two-way street: the old informs the new, and the new informs the old.
SAI: Following a great first year, how is year number two looking? What kinds of projects can our readers look forward to from SAI?
Making magic (Photo: SAI)
Roger: Unfortunately, it’s always hard to discuss works-in-progress or past works that still live under non-disclosure agreements. Hopefully, as time goes on, more could be said about some of these. I can at least say that our scope is still broad and we have new and future projects planned in all the areas we work in. By our nature, we can continue to expand or contract as the workload requires. We’re never shy about taking on projects, big or small.
SAI: And what do you think is the greatest challenge or difficulty facing SAI currently? How do you plan to overcome it?
Roger: The stresses of the world economy in any given decade can be intense. There is always a business cycle in any industry. In Audio, those cycles are changing because of how well we’ve accelerated our ability to innovate. As I mentioned, the automotive industry used to have a summertime lull during a full-model year cycle, then it went to half-model years, erasing the lull in the summer. Meanwhile, the supply side innovated with just-in-time delivery for the full twelve months of production. Vehicle development schedules still go through development cycles of 5-7 years, but more and more these are also becoming shorter. Some of the newer electric vehicles can be developed in 2-3 years, depending on how much expertise has been built up at the OEM.
However, there are also disruptions. When global disasters hit, such as in the form of a pandemic or chip shortages, there is pressure on all of the industries. The automotive industry reset its entire powertrain during the pandemic, setting new development almost completely on the shoulders of battery-powered cars. Development was delayed or canceled for some platforms, and we all needed to shift to fill the gap. In that gap, we were like a kayaker navigating the rapids. Whether we were on the water or in the air, we kept on paddling, because even while airborne, we knew that we would soon be on the water again and needed to be paddling as if we had always been there, just to keep our momentum and stay upright.
It’s difficult to say patience is needed in these gaps, which come more and more often in an ever-shifting landscape, but confidence and strength is important. Trusting in relationships is also important, while luck and insight probably come from being prepared. In a rapidly changing industry, we shouldn’t be holding onto darling projects for too long. We ought to just let them rest, so we can survive and move on to the next one. Our goal is to find our place in the world and continue to make it better for everyone.
SAI: With that in mind, what is the measure of success for Shively Acoustics?
Roger: We’re happy with financial success, of course. In fact, most of us probably could have done well financially in any field, yet we’ve been lucky to work in one that we have a passion for. Or maybe we’re just stubborn. There’s also success in a well-made object, or in a new idea. We work on things we are proud of and which we hope will have lasting value.
SAI: Speaking of passion, let’s end on a personal note: Why Audio? What led you down this career path in the first place, and what continues to motivate you?
Roger: It wasn’t necessarily a conscious decision. I don’t think I would have chosen it consciously, knowing what it really meant. But a love for music and architecture, and a disagreement with my first computer science professor at Purdue, was all that it took. Purdue was a unique place back then, and still is, and it had recently started something new at the time of my arrival.
When I first arrived, I thought I was coming to design and program computers, until one day there was a disagreement on the value of my code. Looking elsewhere, I went to an open lecture about the different engineering schools. At the time, there was something called Interdisciplinary Engineering (IDE), which has since skyrocketed into Multidisciplinary Engineering. IDE said you could take all of these engineering disciplines and create something unique. You could take all the physics, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering classes and create a study plan called Acoustical Engineering, and so I did. It meant studying more physics at a higher level than I could have ever imagined, but I understood it well enough and it made sense to me.
After trying many different ways to use it, I was lucky enough to receive a call from Harman-Motive, and I’ve never looked back since. I’ve never stopped enjoying the work. ■
With that, dear readers, we’ve come full circle, so let’s leave it there. Congratulations again to Roger for one year of SAI on top of his many more years in the industry!
While we’re on the subject, we are also very happy to announce that COMSOL has renewed Shively Acoustics International’s status as a COMSOL Certified Consultant (CCC), a recognition that serves as the perfect gift for the company’s first birthday — icing on the cake. 🎂
Don’t forget…
In just a few weeks, Roger and SAI will be at the SAE World Congress Experience (WCX) in Detroit, Michigan, from April 16-18. The event is the next opportunity to connect with us in person, so don’t miss out.
At the same time is the rapidly approaching submission deadline — April 17 — for peer-reviewed papers for the 2024 AES 5th International Conference on Automotive Audio. There’s no longer any time to lose, so submit your paper now!
AES Automotive Audio
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DEADLINE
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Papers: April 17
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Click the banner to submit!
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AES Automotive Audio 〰️ DEADLINE 〰️ Papers: April 17 〰️ Click the banner to submit! 〰️
More information about the conference is also now available on the event website, including registration rates, program and committee details, and more. You can also watch our promotional videos that we posted here in February, including one featuring the conference’s Vice-Chair and Treasurer, our very own Roger Shively. The conference is set to take place in Gothenburg, Sweden, from June 26-28. It’s sure to be a great time!
Something else we mentioned back in February was that Roger would start periodically attending industry events in a press capacity for audioXpress. The first of these will be the Mobility Voice and Noise Conference being organized by HEAD acoustics from May 8-9 in San Francisco, California, which he will cover for the audio magazine.
Lastly, we’d like to remind everyone about AES Europe 2024 in Madrid, Spain, from June 15-17, which precedes the conference on Automotive Audio by a couple of weeks.
Now then, with the candle on our one-year birthday cake blown out, here’s to another year of Shively Acoustics — Cheers! ■
Shively Acoustics International — Modern Audio Solutions, Worldwide
