Jim Chambers, PhD

1990 Hertz Fellow
James Chambers

James (Jim) Chambers, PhD, is the associate dean for research and graduate studies and associate professor of mechanical engineering as well as a senior research scientist with the National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA) at the University of Mississippi. In 1994, he joined the University of Mississippi as a postdoctoral research associate with the NCPA, and was interim lab director of NCPA from 2010-2012. Jim obtained a BS in mechanical engineering, summa cum laude, (’90); and PhD in mechanical engineering (’94) from The Georgia Institute of Technology. He was a Hertz Fellow, and an E.I. DuPont Fellow while a graduate student.

Jim’s areas of expertise include the development of acoustic hardware and measurement techniques for monitoring sediment transport as well as to improve aquaculture applications. Additional areas of expertise include experimental, theoretical and computational analysis of outdoor sound propagation, including traffic noise, blast waves, and sonic boom propagation as well as the interaction of sound with porous media. Additional areas of research include the propagation of sound over irregular or rough terrain, the influence of turbulence on propagation and the use of recycled fibrous materials as potential noise control materials. He has received funding from the USDA, USGS, Southern Regional Aquaculture Center, DOT, AZDOT, Department of the Interior, US Army Research Office, US Army Research Laboratory and Fibre Craft Inc.

Jim is a member of: The Acoustical Society of America, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, and Pi Tau Sigma. He has reviewed papers for multiple scientific journals including the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Noise Control Engineering Journal, North American Journal of Aquaculture, Acta Acustica united with Acustica, and has been actively involved in organizing and chairing technical sessions at numerous scientific conferences. In addition, he has served on numerous scientific panels including the RCC-SMSG-SAM sensor group for the US Army, NATO Task Group 25 (Acoustics), the Acoustics Experts Working Group for the National Signatures Program and the working group on noise at the Transportation Research Board’s conference on Environmental Research Needs in Transportation.

Graduate Studies

Georgia Institute of Technology
Mechanical Engineering
Scale Model Experiments on the Diffraction and Scattering of Sound by Geometrical Step Discontinuities and Curved Rough Surfaces

Undergraduate Studies

University of Maryland