Founded in 1929, the Acoustical Society of America is the oldest and largest professional acoustical scientific society of the world. The present membership of approximately 7000 includes leaders in acoustics in the United States of America and other countries. The Society has attracted members from various fields related to sound including physics, electrical, mechanical, and aeronautical engineering, oceanography, biology, physiology, psychology, architecture, speech, noise and noise control, and music. Each year, the Society recognizes outstanding professional achievement by electing Fellows of the Society. This prestigious honor is bestowed upon only about 0.4-0.5 % of the Society members each year.

Dr. Xiang obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1990 from the Department of Electrical Engineering of Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. In Bochum, Dr. Xiang developed the binaural tenth-scale modeling for prediction and auralization of acoustics in performing-arts spaces (with Professor J. Blauert). This technique has been extensively applied in real-design projects in Europe and Japan. Its capability has been considered as an invaluable tool by noted scientists and consultants in the fields of architectural acoustics, sound enforcement, sound quality, and binaural technology in Europe, America, and Asia. In addition, Dr. Xiang, together with Dr. J. Blauert, made significant contributions in binaural auralization, a new research field in acoustics and audio engineering. These contributions have resulted in rapid development of new high-tech audio production lines for 3D surround sound, a virtual auditory environment. During 1990 - 1996, as a Project Manager for Head Acoustics, Inc. in Germany, he further developed intensive skills and experience in binaural signal processing and auditory virtual reality, binaural measurement technology, room acoustic measurements, architectural acoustic projects, and vehicle noise and vibration analysis.

Dr. Xiang joined The National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA) at the University of Mississippi in Feb. 1998. The objective of his research at NCPA, together with Dr. J. Sabatier, is to develop an acoustic system to detect anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. His research work has contributed to a system that has performed extraordinarily well in Army tests. His research expertise using a unique acoustic signal-processing scheme called maximum length sequence (M-sequence) transforms has played a significant role for the current Acoustic Technology for Mine Detection research project funded by the U. S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. In the current landmine detection research Dr. Sabatier and Dr. Xiang have achieved phenomenal success using acoustics to detect buried mines. Recent blind tests at Fort A. P. Hill resulted in Probabilities of Detection of 95% with almost no false alarm rate (0.02/m2), independent of the mine's material composition. To date, there is no system in the U. S. Army's inventory with such capabilities. In resolving tiny signals from the Laser-Doppler vibrometer sensor Dr. Xiang proposed an algorithm combined with the Fast M-Sequence Transform. Their functionality and reliability have been proven by real mine detection procedure in recent field measurements. Dr. Xiang's contributions include the implementation of state of the art signal processing algorithms, system integration and field testing.

While conducting research at NCPA, Dr. Xiang invented a simultaneous measurement method using the Fast M-sequence Transform Pairs for Acoustic Tomography, a much-needed tool for outdoor sound propagation research. This technology is of importance in both environmental and military applications. His research is continuing in this area.

Associated with the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Mississippi, Dr. Xiang together with Dr. Goggans has successfully applied Bayesian analysis to study acoustics in coupled spaces, an active research field in the architectural acoustics. At the same time, they have been working on model-based Bayesian inference in automatic landmine recognition. In relation to this work, Dr. Xiang developed a parametric model for sound energy decay in coupled spaces and a parametric model for acoustic-to-seismic landmine responses. These two models are of significant relevance for successful applications of Bayesian inference.

Dr. Xiang has been an Associate Member of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) since 1990 and a Member of German Acoustical Society since 1991. He has been serving as an active member in the Technical Committees on Architectural Acoustics and Signal Processing in Acoustics of the ASA. He is also a committee member for updating the Signal Processing Section (43.60) of the Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme (PACS) numbers. In preparation of 75th birthday of the Acoustical Society of America (2004), he has drafted, upon invitation by the Technical Committee on Signal Processing in Acoustics of the ASA, a historical chapter entitled "Signal, Analysis, and Processing in Architectural Acoustics" for the review issue concerning "History of Signal Processing in Acoustics". Many times he has served a chair of special sessions at the meetings of the Acoustical Society of America and as a reviewer for peer-reviewed journals such as IEEE and JASA (Journal of the Acoustical Society of America). In more than 15 years, Dr. Xiang has published one book and over 60 papers in proceedings and peer-reviewed journals in architectural acoustics, signal processing, ultrasonic NDE/NDT, binaural technology, model-based acoustic data analysis, and, more recently, in acoustic technology for landmine detection.

Dr. Xiang is married to Hong Zhou, they have a wonderful daughter Charlotte Xiang. Their family is living in Oxford, MS.