Graduate acoustics at The University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

The study of acoustics at the University of Texas at Austin is quite broad. It includes physical acoustics, engineering acoustics, underwater acoustics, dectroacoustics, noise and vibration control, environmental acoustics, architectural acoustics, psychoacoustics, speech, audiology, linguistics, and musical acoustics. Not surprisingly, the program is spread over several departments. Engineering and physical acoustics is concentrated in the Mechanical Engineering and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments, with some activity also in the Physics Department, the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department, and the Petroleum Engineering Department. Considerable research in hearing and speech is carried out in the Psychology, Linguistics, and Speech Communication Departments. Engineering and physical acoustics is stressed in this paper. Formal course work at the graduate level consists of 1 year of basic physical and engineering acoustics and several advanced one-semester courses, e.g., electromechanical sensors/actuators, nonlinear acoustics, underwater acoustics, ultrasonic engineering, noise control, and wave propagation in continuous media. Research is carried out in all these areas. In the last 8 years, 37 students in the various departments (in the College of Engineering and in Physics) have earned master's degrees with theses in acoustics, and 12 have earned Ph.D. degrees.