Graduate acoustics at Brigham Young University

Abstract

Graduate studies in acoustics at Brigham Young University prepare students for jobs in industry, research, and academia by complementing in-depth coursework with publishable research. In the classroom, a series of five graduate‐level core courses provides students with a solid foundation in core acoustics principles and practices. The associated lab work is substantial and provides hands-on experience in diverse areas of acoustics: calibration, directivity, scattering, absorption, Doppler vibrometry, lumped-element mechanical systems, equivalent circuit modeling, arrays, filters, room acoustics measurements, active noise control, and near-field acoustical holography. In addition to coursework, graduate students complete independent research projects with faculty members. Recent thesis and dissertation topics have included active noise control, directivity of acoustic sources, room acoustics, radiation and directivity of musical instruments, energy-based acoustics, aeroacoustics, propagation modeling, nonlinear propagation, and high-amplitude noise analysis. In addition to their individual projects, graduate students often serve as peer mentors to undergraduate students on related projects and often participate in field experiments to gain additional experience. Students are expected to develop their communication skills, present their research at multiple professional meetings, and publish it in peer-reviewed acoustics journals. In the past five years, nearly all graduate students have published at least one refereed paper.