Spencer turned his interest in theatre and sound engineering into a career. After graduating from the Sound and vibration master’s at Chalmers, he moved to London, where he now works as an acoustic consultant specializing in theatre design.
Most recently, he joined Charcoalblue, taking on projects that allow him to focus on the unique challenges of performance spaces.
Why are you so passionate about working with the theatre side of things?
I’ve always been interested and involved in theatre. It was one of the reasons I pursued acoustic engineering, to get closer to the industry and continue my involvement in this field.
What kind of projects are you working on and excited to work on in the future?
As I have only just started, I’m not properly on projects, but doing tasks for a couple of projects. I have quite a few site visits coming up for testing and taking measurements at theatres in the UK, one of which will be during a piano recital in a small concert hall. And, looking forward to working on all types of performance spaces around the world.
What’s the best part about your job?
Working with nice, helpful people that share similar interests and passions. Everyone comes from such unique backgrounds and have a wide range of previous experiences within the performing arts, architecture, and engineering industries.
Your previous job was at Buro Huppold. What did you do there?
We did sound insulation, reducing noise from mechanical systems, and design. I was an acoustics expert on my team. Mainly examining how sound behaves and bounces around inside rooms. For example, if a music room is next to a classroom, I determined the wall design needed to achieve the right sound insulation. I’ve worked on offices, schools, residential buildings, cultural spaces and even a couple of theatres.
How did you find your master’s at Chalmers?
I came from an electrical engineering background in Canada and while I didn’t love it, I enjoyed signal processing and analysis. I also liked theater and architecture, but I didn’t want to become an architect. When I searched online, I discovered acoustics, and it brought everything together. The programme gave me a solid foundation in theory, understanding how sound works and the math behind it. In our room acoustics course, we learned how to model a space in software, run the calculations, and interpret the results.
What was one of the highlights of the programme?
We did a cool project together with architecture students, designing a performance space for a student competition run by the Acoustical Society of America. It involved converting car park structures into concert spaces and our theme was ‘bubbles.’ Everything we designed had rounded surfaces, very bright and colourful. The seating was like a ball pit.
What do you remember from your time here?
In our class, we were only 13 students, because of that we bonded easily and became close friends. We studied together and hung out all the time. I remember we got into trouble for being too loud in the library a few times.We still keep in touch and visit each other whenever we can. There were so many events at Chalmers that were so exciting to experience. Cortègen, pub crawls, Midsummer celebrations. I even celebrate Midsummer in Hyde Park with other Swedes in London now.
Find out more about the programme
Sound and vibration, MSc
Sound and vibration properties are critical for how we perceive our surroundings, from vehicles such as trains and passenger cars to outdoor, indoor, and virtual environments. A lack of forethought in these areas can lead to serious health effects, sleep disturbance and stress, impacting upon people's well-being and public health. But well-designed environments can yield beautiful acoustic properties — in concert halls and theatres, naturally, but also in everyday buildings such as offices and shopping centres. This master's programme, therefore, is for engineers who want to create a better acoustic world.