Overview of a Forum during INTER-NOISE 2008

Title:                    Asia-Pacific Education in Noise Control Engineering
Venue:                International Convention Center, Shanghai, China
Co-chairs:          William Lang and Hideki Tachibana
Secretariat:        Noise Control Foundation, NY, USA
Date:                   2008 October 27 (10:00 - 12:00, 13:00-18:00) 
Panelists:           Professors teaching noise control and acoustics courses in the Asia-Pacific region
Background: 
Many universities and other institutions of higher learning have one or more professors teaching courses in noise control engineering and closely-related subjects.  There is evidence that current demand for trained professionals in the field may exceed the supply and that industry and government are now hiring people from other fields to perform noise control engineering work despite their lack of training in acoustics and noise control.  These include aerodynamicists, crash-worthiness engineers, physicists, mechanical engineers, vibration specialists, electrical engineers, and others.  To be fully effective as a noise control engineer, many educators assert that graduate training leading to a degree is needed in this field.  Education in noise control engineering in Europe and the United States was surveyed in workshops held during 2007 in Spain and the USA respectively.

Objectives: 

1. To determine if the demand for noise control engineers in Asia-Pacific countries is greater than the supply provided by the universities in these countries.
2. To identify the components of a typical curriculum in noise control engineering relating to several sub-specialties such as the design of low-noise products, building acoustics, and measurement/instrumentation technology including model curricula. 
3. To assess the ability of higher education to supply noise control engineers and identify the universities that offer curricula on noise control engineering.
4. To describe the mathematical preparation that students need and the background in the social, psychological, and physiological sciences required for a career in noise control engineering.

Structure:
The forum will include three sessions, each with panelist presentations based on a set of questions designed to address the objectives of the forum.  The forum presentations will be followed by discussions.  After the final discussion period there will be a work session to assess whether the forum reached the desired objectives and to prepare a statement of the results.  Attendees of the work session will be the panelists and other invited participants.