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Acoustic Engineer
Designs spaces and systems for optimal sound — concert halls, noise barriers, audio equipment.
Did you know?
Before the Sydney Opera House opened in 1973, plastic 'acoustic clouds' were hung above the Concert Hall stage to help musicians hear. They didn't fully work.
How subjects help
- Physics: Understand how sound waves bounce, echo and fade inside a room or concert hall.
- Mathematics: Calculate how thick a wall needs to be to stop traffic noise reaching a bedroom.
- Music: Listen closely to judge whether a hall makes voices and instruments sound warm and clear.
- Computer Science: Use software to simulate how a room will sound before it is even built.
A famous name
Wallace Clement Sabine: Founded architectural acoustics and designed the sound of Boston's Symphony Hall (1900).
Try it yourself: Which material stops sound best?
- Put the beeping timer in the empty box and walk away until you can only just hear it. Count your steps.
- Now wrap the box in one material and repeat. Keep the beep volume the same every time.
- Try each material. Which one made you stop closest to the box?
- Why do you think soft, thick materials work better? Where would you use them in a school?
Acoustic engineers and audiologists study how sound travels and how it can be blocked, from concert halls to protecting people's hearing.
Also try: Program a paper traffic light.
Known for it in
Germany, USA, UK, Japan, Denmark