Graduate study at the Catholic University of America: Towards a century of acoustics

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2020-10, Vol.148 (4), p.2744-2744
• Main Authors: Vignola, Joseph, Turo, Diego, Guan, Shane, Ryan, Teresa J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.5147623

The Catholic University of America (CUA) has a graduate program with a long history in acoustics dating back to the early 1930s. The acoustics program moved to the School of Engineering in the 1960s when there were strong needs in underwater acoustic studies to meet U.S. Naval applications. Recent interests include acoustical engineering, acoustic metamaterials, and environmental acoustic. Currently, a variety of graduate level acoustic courses are being offered in the CUA's Mechanical Engineering Department. Students can pursue a MS in Mechanical Engineering or Ph.D. with research in acoustics or vibrations. The courses in the program include a two-course sequence in fundamentals of acoustics, and more focused courses in ocean acoustics, atmospheric acoustics, acoustic metrology, marine bioacoustics, nonlinear vibration, acoustic imaging, and acoustic metamaterials. In addition, this program enables working professionals in the Washington, DC, area to complete a graduate degree while continuing fulltime employment by offering face-to-face classes on-site at a number of off-campus sites. These sites including the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock, the Army's Night Vision lab, as well as Newport News Shipbuilding. The group has active research collaborations with the US Naval Research Laboratory, NSWC Carderock, East Carolina University and, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy.