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Welcome to the homepage of Dr Christian Ritz!

 

I am an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Wollongong,

 
 
Australia. I can be contacted via email to: Description: email.png

 

Brief Biography

Christian graduated from the University of Wollongong in 1999 with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Mathematics and a PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Wollongong in 2003. His PhD research focused on very low bit rate coding of wideband speech using Waveform Interpolation (WI).

Since 2003, Christian has held a position within the School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Wollongong and is currently a Senior Lecturer.  His is a member of the Visual and Audio Signal Processing Lab of the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Research Institute.

Research Activities

Current research interests include single and multichannel speech signal processing, speech and audio coding, spatial audio signal processing, multimedia Quality of Experience (QoE) and signal processing for new media services.

Current projects include spatial and multichannel speech and audio signal processing and compression, acoustic vectors sensors for sound source localisation and enhancement, microphone array signal processing, semantic analysis and processing of multimedia content, perceptual processing and Quality of Experience (QoE) estimation for media content.

I am a member of the Visual and Audio Signal Processing Lab, part of the ICT Research Institute. I am also the director of the University of Wollongong’s anechoic recording and playback facility.

Publication List (sourced via UOW Database)

            Current Research Projects

·         Adaptive signal processing for enhancing sound field recordings and reproduction. This project is investigating new approaches to enhancing sound fields recorded by microphone arrays as well as delivered using loudspeaker arrays.

·         Sound field reproduction using directional loudspeaker arrays. This project is investigating novel approaches to sound field reproduction using directional loudspeaker arrays.

·         Encoding and Communicating Navigable Soundfields, C Ritz and Ian Burnett (RMIT University), ARC Discovery Project, 2010-2012.

·         Acoustic Vector Sensors for Speech Processing and Enhancement. This project is investigating novel miniature microphone arrays for sound recording and processing, including speech signal analysis, localisation and enhancement.

·         Signal Processing and Quality Of Experience For New Media Services. This project, sponsored by the Smart Services CRC, is investigating new signal processing technologies for new media services applications including how to measure the resulting user Quality of Experience (QoE). A significant outcome was the development of technology behind the AirLinkTM iPhone application, which provides a user with the ability to scan a printed newspaper picture and then automatically receive related digital content such as a video, picture or web page that is displayed on their phone.

            past Research Projects

·         Spatial Audio Coding. This project is investigated new techniques for compression of 3D audio. In particular, a new approach based on spatial squeezing was developed and resulted in compression rates similar to those used for stereo audio formats when coding 16-channel 3D audio.

·         Microphone Array Recording and Analysis of Speech. This project investigated the recording and analysis of multiparty speech recordings using microphone arrays. The key application was to detect speaker turns in meetings for automatic labelling of the participants for use within meeting ‘browser’ applications.

Current Research Students

·         Chao Sun : Motif Recovery in Spatio-Temporal Data Project

·         Mohamed Barakat : Keyword Spotting for Social Media Semantics

·         Yi Cao : User Quality of Experience (QoE) for Interactive Multimedia

·         Chen Meng : Surround Sound for Mobile Telephony

·         Muhammad Salman Raheel : Peer To Peer Real Time Video Distribution

·         Shahab Pasha : Adaptive Signal Processing for Noise-Robust Speech Processing

·         Jacob Donley : Spatial Audio Using Innovative Directional Loudspeakers

·         Matthew Dabin : Optimised Microphone Placement on 3D Geometry for Speech Enhancement Purposes

·         Yuxiao Feng : Adaptive Analysis and Active Cancellation of Environmental Noise

If you are interested in joining my research team as a postgraduate research student you are encouraged to send me an email along with your CV and academic transcripts. Information about the application process can be found at the University postgraduate study page. For information about Scholarships, please see the University scholarship page. You might also like to spend time as a visiting research student.

graduates and alumni

 The following students have graduated under my supervision:

Teaching Activities

In addition to my traditional research activities related to digital signal processing, I am also involved with research related to engineering education. This has included the completion of projects investigating the integration of graduate capabilities and outcomes within the Engineering curriculum including their relationship to professional accreditation requirements. Research and scholarship in teaching has also included a focus on the development of professional communication and teamwork skills within Engineering students.  

Grants and Projects:

·               C Ritz, B James, et. al., “Quality Graduates become Professional Engineers”, ESDF/T&L, 2008. 

Current subjects:

·         ECTE401/901 Multimedia Signal Processing (Autumn session 2014)

Past subjects:

·         ECTE203 Signals and Systems

·         ECTE301 Digital Signal Processing

·         ECTE171 Electrical Engineering Practice

·         ECTE250 Engineering Design and Management 2

·         ECTE906 Advanced Signals and Systems

Professional Activities

·         Senior Member of the IEEE

·         Member of the Audio Engineering Society

·         Member of the International Speech Communications Association (ISCA)

·         Associate Member of The Audio Engineering Society (AES)

·         Member of The Australian Speech Science and Technology Association (ASSTA)