Fully Funded PhD or Master’s in Acoustics & Metamaterials for Buildings

Fully Funded PhD or Master’s in Acoustics & Metamaterials for Buildings

Have you ever experienced the annoying thuds and thumps of someone on the floor above moving around or dropping something? Are you interested in the unusual mechanics of granular materials and metamaterials? The problem of impact noise has become increasingly important in a world of increasing noise pollution. A transdisciplinary team led by the Acoustics Research Centre at the University of Auckland is seeking applicants for an exciting research project that tackles this problem by using granular materials and metamaterials to radically improve impact sound insulation. Fully funded PhD and Master’s by Research studentships are available which include tuition fees, stipend, and support for research-related activities such as consumables and travel.

The Research

There is a critical need for high-density housing that meets better standards for acoustic comfort and privacy to ensure the health and well-being of occupants. Impact noise is primarily transmitted by the structural vibration of framing components within a building and current methods for reducing it are of limited effectiveness. Ordered and disordered granular materials offer new approaches to reducing these vibrations through enhanced damping and spectrum modification of elastic waves. Sand and shredded tyres are both examples of disordered granular materials. A line of steel balls in a channel is an example of a simple ordered granular material or metamaterial.

The Team

This project is a collaboration between the Acoustics Research Centre (ARC) at the University of Auckland, RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, Auckland University of Technology and industry partner Marshall Day Acoustics. The ARC has unique experimental facilities, and high performance computational facilities will be provided by the National eScience Infrastructure in NZ, and the National Computing Infrastructure (NCI) in Australia.

The Applicant

We are looking for candidates who enjoy analytical and numerical modelling or have a background in experimentation, and a passion for applying theory to reality. Available topics include:

●       Optimising low-frequency vibration dissipation in granular materials

●       Design and testing of structural panels with integrated granular material dampers

●       Designing granular metamaterials for wave dispersion and attenuation

The University is committed to meeting its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and achieving equity outcomes for students. We encourage women and Māori applicants.

To Apply

Please send a CV or resume, academic transcript, and a brief description of what you could bring to this research to A/Prof. John Cater (UoA), Dr Andrew Hall (UoA) or Prof Raj Das (RMIT)

Keywords: Auckland, New Zealand, Melbourne, Australia, Granular materials, Metamaterials, Building Acoustics, Acoustics is awesome,