Architecture PhD candidate Selen Okcu is turning heads in the design and construction communities with her pioneering research in acoustics for healthcare environments. Working with Georgia Tech faculty in architecture and mechanical engineering, as well as medical faculty from Emory University, Okcu is developing innovative ways to measure, classify, and document sound. These tools can be used to inform design decisions that could lead to improved outcomes, such as error reduction, better patient response, and nurse well-being.

Three consecutive accolades have won Okcu exceptional acclaim in the fields of healthcare and acoustics. She was awarded a 2009 Newman Medal from the ASA Robert Bradford Newman Student Award Fund for excellence in the study of acoustics and its application to architecture, as well an American Society of Heating and Refrigerating Engineering (ASHRAE) grant in the amount of $10,000 for her proposal Diagnosing Quiet in Hospitals to Improve Patient Care, Nurse Performance. She also captured the 2009 Martin Hirschorn IAC Award for $5,000 from the Institute of Noise Control Engineering for her paper Development of new acoustic metrics for complex hospital sound environments. This prestigious award is given to one graduate student only every two years.

Okcu's recent work compares the acoustics in relation to the architectural layouts of two intensive care units; one being of a traditional design from the 1980s, the other a modern unit that won the Society of Critical Care Medicine design award in 2008 for best new ICU. The study documents objective sound levels and sound qualities, as well as nurse perceptions of the sound environments. Approximately 246-hours of sound data an electronic survey shows the traditional unit is perceived significantly louder and therefore more annoying than the modern unit. The same unit also is perceived to be worse for nurse well-being and performance. As a result of Okcu's awards, research will continue with additional analysis of system design, spatial materials, and architectural layout, all in comparison to other settings.

Okcu says the rigor and challenge found here as a doctoral candidate is offset by the reward of producing new knowledge. "It's the act of working so hard and pulling together from so many different disciplines to ultimately achieve something greater than has ever been done before which is what makes this all so rewarding."

Okcu has a background in architectural design; she received her Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Science Degrees from Istanbul Technical University. At Tech she works closely with environmental psychologist Dr. Craig Zimring and the Evidence-Based Design Research Group in the College of Architecture, and Dr. Erica Ryherd, an expert in healthcare acoustics in the School of Mechanical Engineering. She also works with Dr. Owen Samuels, an intensive care neurologist at Emory University. Together with these researchers, Okcu established the Healthcare Acoustics Research Group to encourage frequent communication among the three disciplines.

Zimring, an environmental psychologist, has elevated evidence-based design research at Georgia Tech to a national level, leading significant research projects with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Military Health System. Evidence-based design aims to improve organizational, psychological, and physiological user outcomes such as well-being and productivity.

Ryherd is an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering. Her research interests are in noise control, architectural acoustics, and the associated psychological and physiological responses to sound. She is particularly interested in how engineered systems impact the acoustic environment, such as heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems.

To learn more about research in the College of Architecture, visit www.coa.gatech.edu.