Educating mechanical engineers in the art of noise control

Abstract

Acoustics and noise control is one of the disciplines where the material that students learn during a well-structured undergraduate course, can be immediately applied to many problems that they may encounter during their employment. However, in order to find optimal solutions to noise control problems, it is vitally important that students have a good fundamental understanding of the physical principles underlying the subject as well as a good understanding of how these principles may be applied in practice. Ideally, they should have access to affordable software and be confident in their ability to interpret and apply the results of any computer-based modelling that they may undertake. Students must fully understand any ethical issues that may arise, such as their obligation to ensure their actions do not contribute to any negative impact on the health and welfare of any communities. How do we ensure that our mechanical engineering graduates develop the understanding and knowledge required to tackle noise control problems that they may encounter after graduation? This presentation attempts to answer this question by discussing the process of educating undergraduate and postgraduate mechanical engineering students at the University of Adelaide, including details of lab classes, example problems, text books and software developed for the dual purpose of educating students and being useful in assisting graduates solve practical noise control problems.