Engineering a Quieter World

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Noise Control Engineering is the application of engineering methods to the scientific principles of acoustics, in order to achieve policy goals, improve customer satisfaction or to meet community expectations. Where noise is adversely affecting people or wildlife, Noise Control Engineers strive to reduce the noise (and vibration).

"Policy" here can mean legislation or regulation to protect citizens, workers, communities, and the environment, or market-driven objectives for products and processes.

Learning About Noise Control

A good introduction to the modern noise control and the issues currently faced is in the National Academy of Engineering publication The Bridge published in the fall 2007. This link will take you to the magazine: https://www.nae.edu/File.aspx?id=7411&v=13af7641.

A general resource for understanding how noise control is often thought of can be found at Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_control, which will also link to many other useful resources.

Noise Control Education and Training

While there are many paths to becoming a noise control engineer, the classical path involves undergraduate and often graduate degrees in specialized engineering disciplines. For more information on noise control courses and training please go to the link below.

https://www.inceusa.org/careers-education/courses-and-training/

Noise Control Engineering Topics

Occupational Noise Control

The goal of occupational noise control is to minimize the hearing loss of workers. Many people with hearing loss associated with old age have hearing loss due to exposure to high levels of noise during their careers. For example miners are one of the most overexposed worker populations and experience high levels of hearing loss. By age 60, 90% of miners have substantial hearing loss compared to a 10-15% loss expected from aging alone.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health also has a series of documents providing a description of noise control measures. A good starting point is this document:

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noisecontrol/default.html. This is a very comprehensive resource with numerous links and the treatment of several aspects of noise control. It is focused on Occupational Noise, but there is still useful information for anyone thinking of noise control.

There are many sources of information on basics steps that can be taken in occupational noise control. One is a pamphlet prepared by the Georgia Tech Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Program. This booklet can be download from this site:
https://oshainfo.gatech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Technical%20Guide%20for%20Noise%20Controls.pdf

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) provide valuable resources for noise control. A practical guide to noise control from NA can be found at https://www.nae.edu/File.aspx?id=7411&v=13af7641. A comprehensive treatment of Controls for Noise Exposure are available from NIOSH at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noisecontrol/default.html Where there are numerous links focusing on Occupational Noise.