Information for Students

The foundation courses Systems Theory I-III as well as the courses Communications Engineering and Speech Communication provide a solid preparation for a successful completion of the coursework in the two majors: Communications Technology and Communications Acoustics.  Algorithms and digital signal processing play an important role in many areas of man-machine communication in particular in connection with virtual environments, acoustic scene analysis and quality assessment.

The Master of Science courses devote special attention to topics such as Speech Communication, Adaptive Systems, Signal Processing, Communications Acoustics and automatic speech recognition. A wide spectrum of subjects is covered, ranging from physical and physiological principles to algorithms of signal processing and statistical methods of machine learning.

In addition, the Institute of Communications Acoustics offers student research projects, Bachelor theses, Master theses and Project theses, which allow students to pursue special topics in the domain in more depth and with an appropriate scientific rigor.

The training provided by the Institute lays the foundation for a variety of career opportunities in the areas of information technology and technical acoustics. Possible fields of employment for engineers with knowledge in speech and auditory signal processing and in acoustics are (amongst others):

  • Communications engineering, mobile communications (GSM, UTMS, LTE, Voice-over-IP) in digital broadcasting etc.
  • Hearing aids and cochlear implants
  • Audio technology for professional and non-professional applications
  • Speech technology (Spoken dialog systems)
  • Quality measurement and assessment
  • Virtual environments and telepresence
  • Audiology and medical technology
  • Automotive technology
  • Noise control
  • Machine acoustics

Accordingly, our graduates work with these companies and institutions.

Access to the physical aspects of acoustical phenomena is somewhat simplified for students of electrical engineering because the mathematical models of electromagnetic oscillation processes are very similar to the ones for acoustical and mechanical oscillation processes. Simple acoustical and mechanical systems can be treated as electrical networks by using electroacoustical and electromechanical analogies. In this way, not only electroacoustical components (such as microphones, loudspeakers, headphones) but also non-technical systems such as the human speech-production system or the human ear can be modeled more easily.  
 Electrical engineers are oftentimes unaccustomed to the special research methods of psychoacoustics for the study of human behavior during the perception and generation of acoustic signals. These methods are partly rooted in psychology and sociology. It is important to keep in mind that with most IT systems it is people who act as information sources and/or information sinks. In dealing with the delivery, perception and processing of this information it is therefore indispensible to consider human idiosyncrasies, especially in the configuration of man-machine interfaces for example.