Resonating Research
Million-dollar grant in engineering expands exploration of acoustics
A new $1 million grant will help East Carolina University expand research into acoustics.
Dr. Teresa Ryan, interim chair, professor and director of engineering research in the Department of Engineering, has received a three-year, $1.06 million grant from the Office of Naval Research.
Dr. Teresa Ryan
Since 2015, Ryan has researched ways to improve outdoor sound propagation predictions, most notably along coastlines. This new grant — “Acoustic Characterization of the Sea-Air-Land Boundary” — is a continuation of that work.
“It is taking an important next step in understanding how not only meteorological factors such as wind and temperature can affect how much sound carries over long distances, but also shore characteristics whether urban, sandy, forested, etc.,” Ryan said. “This work is a key piece of the scientific puzzle in understanding the wide variations in how loud a distant noise source can seem, especially in the near-shore environment, where the noise of the shore itself can have a masking effect.”
Ryan described the research work as an experimental effort with some scaled studies planned for the wave tank facility at the Coastal Studies Institute in Wanchese. It continues her long partnership with collaborators Dr. Joseph Vignola and Dr. Diego Turo in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Catholic University of America in Washington as well as coordinated efforts with the Surface Ship Acoustics Branch of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, in Maryland.
Ryan has secured $1.2 million in funding through five previous grants from the Office of Naval Research to study various aspects of atmospheric sound propagation.
“This grant is a logical next step that builds on and expands on the experimental capability our lab has established,” she said.
As part of one of those grants, Ryan, senior teaching instructor Jeff Foeller and eight students spent about a month this summer conducting research on the Outer Banks. That project — “Experimental Characterization of Near-Shore Atmospheric Acoustics” — was part of a three-year, $343,781 grant from the Office of Naval Research.
The new grant will support a post-doctoral scholar and several undergraduate assistants, providing students chances to participate in research that will enhance their career opportunities after graduation.
“I am passionate about sharing the experience of rolling up your sleeves and actually taking the experimental data, because there’s nothing better than the ‘aha’ moment when a student connects some of that ‘math with letters’ we do in our engineering classes to what we are doing in the field,” Ryan said. “The value of those experiences — and the opportunities to build authentic, lasting mentorship relationships — benefits all parties.”