Acoustical engineer
Q. I am a recent high school graduate and about to start the
path to true knowledge (ha) I was wondering if anyone could help me
out with the path to become an acoustics engineer. As far as what
classes to take to get me onto the path of graduate school and that
sweet sweet acoustics degree.
A. There are multiple paths you can take, although as far as I know, there
aren't any universities that offer a graduate (or undergraduate) degree
in "acoustics" proper. A bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or
physics will prepare you well, and at the graduate level, you can likely
emphasize acoustics in either of those disciplines along with electrical
engineering. (At most schools, the graduate coursework in acoustics
seems to be spread out across multiple departments.)
My undergraduate degree is in mechanical engineering, and my masters
degree is in "engineering". (The University of Texas only offers MSE
degrees, even though you typically do your graduate coursework in one
department. I did mine in the mechanical engineering department, with a
couple of electrical engineering classes, so for all intents and
purposes, my masters is an MSME.)
At the undergraduate level, make sure you take all the acoustics (duh),
vibrations, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transfer, and advanced
math classes you can, as well as any graduate courses in those subjects
your professors will let you sign up for