Features
(Photo: Richard Baker)In high school, Josh Palley set up microphones for school plays.
But when he got to college, he set up entire sound systems for the bands that came through, which led to part-time work with regional production companies and internships with local businesses who make audio signal processing equipment. He loved learning the mechanics of sound—why speakers are designed in particular ways, for example, and why certain frequencies don’t travel at the same speed when the temperature changes.
“I like to know how everything works,” says Palley, a first-year master’s student in electrical and computer engineering from Liverpool, N.Y. “I’ve basically told myself that as long as I’m doing something that’s related to sound and audio, I’m going to be happy.”
So when he learned that the University offered a concentration in musical acoustics and signal processing, he applied.
Though he hasn’t yet identified a career specialty, Palley knows that future opportunities for someone with an acoustic engineering background are plenty, from developing speakers to cochlear implants. He is open to them all—in part, he says, because the University has allowed him the freedom to experiment.
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but that’s what has been so neat about it,” Palley says. “It’s very flexible here, so I’ve been able to apply my own interests to my own research and to each of the classes I’m taking.”
