Best Schools (Grad/Undrgrd) for Acoustical Engineering for Defense 1

[wolfsschanze]

If $, GPA, & travel are not an issue, what are the top Ungergrad & Grad schools for a BS in Electrical Engineering/ masters in Acoustics going on to work in the defense industry?

Thanks for your help

 

[GregLocock]

ISVR at Southhampton University in the UK springs to mind.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[KENAT]

I studied Aero at Southampton, ISVR had spun off from the Aero dept just a few years before so we still had some common lecturers. They are indeed a highly rated bunch.

What country do you want to work in? It may be slightly better to get a degree in that country as employers will understand the grades etc. better. I had to get my UK degree reviewed for equivalency to a US degree and it wasn't straight forward.

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[wolfsschanze]

Thanks for the info so far. Where would you guys recommend in the USA?

 

[MiketheEngineer]

MIT?? No clue?? They just seem to do everything right!!

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Finding the top undergrad/grad schools for EE in the US isn't difficult... plenty of lists to go around on Google, newsstands, etc. Narrowing it down to ones that have good acoustics programs is a little more difficult, but can be done without too much trouble by calling up the schools you're interested in.

Attaching a school to having a better chance int he defense industry just really doesn't make much sense to me, though. The acoustic work you do might or might not be funded by one armed forces division or another, but that really doesn't link to you getting a job in that industry. You're better off finding an internship at a defense contractor, and then work hard and fast towards getting a project that will result in a security clearance.

Dan - Owner

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[SomptingGuy]

A couple of USA places with strong acoustic schools spring to mind: U of Michigan and U of Kentucky.

But given an infinite budget, I'd probably spend a few years in Valencia. You'd get cultured up too.

- Steve

 

[xnuke]

I recommend you check out the Northwest Electromagnetics and Acoustics Research (NEAR) Lab at Portland State University in Portland, OR, for graduate work. They've been doing some work with the Navy, as well as oceanographic work. Dr. Lisa Zurk is the director; the co-director is Dr. Martin Siderius.

http://nearlab.ece.pdx.edu/

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[hydrac]

I'm fairly biased in this matter as I just did an acoustical masters. My school, FAU in south Florida, has multiple professors working in acoustics. Mostly the work is hydroacoustics as the program used to be Ocean Engineering, but within that there's a professor who I think is well ingrained with the ASA, and works clossely with WHOI; one professor does hydroacoustic communications, mostly for the NAVY I think; and my thesis advisor studied at Southampton, and does a lot of flow noise work in conjunction with VT. In addition there are a couple Sonar labs. Our program has always been very geared towards the NAVY as we used to get funding from them.

But its more important to find a program that specializes in the specific area you want to get into, I'd search through JASA to see what comes up that peaks your interest.

 

[hydrac]

Sorry for the double post but I couldn't find an edit button.

Virginia Tech also does a lot of aeroacoustics. They just built a brand new quiet flow facility, and I think they get government grants quite often.

 

[IRstuff]

I think trying to pick a school for a particular industry segment is putting the cart a mile ahead of the horse.

> You may not even stay in acoustics during your undergrad. My freshman roommate switched from physics to English Lit.
> You may find that there aren't that many opportunities in the defense industry upon graduation.
> You may find that some other industry suits your needs and desires four yrs from now.

TTFN
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[wolfsschanze]

Hey guys, thanks so much for the helpful info so far.

I know that I'm definitely thinking about his early, but I just want to select the best school possible.

What do you guys think about Penn State? A lot of acoustic guys recommend that school and they have a pretty large acoustics program.

Thanks again

 

[KENAT]

If you personally know folks doing the kind of 'acoustics' work you think you want to do then I'd tend to weigh their opinion on the best choice of school more highly than an anonymous bunch of Eng-Tips members most of whom aren't probably in specifically 'acoustics'.

However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't consider that they may be biased etc. which hopefully is what you're doing here.

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[SomptingGuy]

Agree. In my little world I've never heard of defence acoustics, other than subs trying to be silent.

- Steve

 

[wolfsschanze]

Ok more great advice. Thanks guys.

 

[hydrac]

In my little world I've never heard of defence acoustics, other than subs trying to be silent.

Yeah, a lot of what I've seen is NAVY related ( granted my background is ocean engineering), mostly ship signatures stuff like making ships/submarines quiet, or changing what they sound like. I've heard of the drug runners use a device sometimes which will change the sound of their "submarines" to sound like regular cargo freighters to avoid suspicion. Also flow noise is a big area because that is indicative of inefficiencies and turbulent/laminar flow areas. Another hot topic is mine hunting which makes heavy use of SONAR.

The Air Force also does acoustics for similar reasons, but they replace "ship" with "plane." There's a huge anechoic chamber at Edwards AFB which they use for full scale testing of jets and fighters that I would love to be able to play in one day.

I think there's also a smaller, but growing field in acoustic weapons for crowd control and other non-lethal warfare.