Ronald Roy is the Chair of Mechanical Engineering and Head of the Department of Engineering Science. He formerly served as Professor and Chairman of the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering at Boston Univ., as a Senior Physicist at the Applied Physics Lab and an Associate Research Professor of Bioengineering, both at the Univ. of Washington, and on the research staff at the National Center for Physical Acoustics. Professor Roy also served as the 65th George Eastman Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford (2006-2007) and is a former Vice President of the Acoustical Society of America.
Teaching
Ron has taught a broad range of foundational courses in mechanical engineering and acoustics at multiple universities in the US. In Oxford, he teaches the 1st-year university course on electricity and magnetism, the 3rd-year course on heat transfer with phase change and multi-phase flow, and previously taught the 4th-year course on biomedical ultrasound.
Research
Trained as a physicist and an engineer, Ron specializes in the application of physical acoustics principles to problems in biomedical acoustics, industrial ultrasonics, and acoustical oceanography — however, his true passion is the acoustics of bubbles and bubbly media. Sonoluminescence (light from sound), acoustic cavitation dynamics, shock-driven cavity collapse physics, and bubble-mediated therapeutic ultrasonics are topics of past and current interest. Most recently, he has joined colleagues in developing new techniques for imaging the optical properties of soft tissues through the nonlinear interaction of light and sound (acousto-optic imaging) and is currently exploring novel ways in which nanoparticles can be used in conjunction with laser illumination and high-intensity focused ultrasound to facilitate both optical imaging and focused ultrasound surgery. In addition to academic and contract research, Ron has served in over 35 consultancies for corporations, companies, universities and US government agencies.
