Robert Harris

BSc Physics, 1975

I have recently retired from a rare career, designing the acoustics of international opera houses, concert halls and theatres.

This has traceable routes to my time at Warwick, lighting student plays in Benefactors Hall and then the (new) Warwick Arts Centre, running the disco on the roof of the Senate building during the 1975 occupation, doing a noise-related summer placement and a project on the physics of concert halls.

Interestingly I switched from Engineering Science and Physics to Physics. One result was that my technical drawing was never that good (I took the alternative Relativistic Cosmology option!) but along my career path I achieved a Masters degree in engineering, a spell in offshore engineering, Chartered Engineering status, a Directorship of a major engineering consultancy and Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Auditorium acoustics design requires an extensive knowledge of the relevant physics and engineering, but also an appreciation of architecture and the performing arts, plus the soft skills necessary to achieve the technical design aims.

Engineering provides satisfying, challenging and financially rewarding careers over a very wide subject field, as my experience has shown. My best wishes to current Warwick students studying physics, engineering and theatre.