They make the Université de Lyon: meet Xin Yee Ng

Meet Xin Yee Ng, a student in the IDEXLYON Acoustics Master's program.

Please introduce yourself in a few words.

I am originally from Malaysia, where I pursued a mechanical engineering program at the Tenaga Nasional University in Kuala Lumpur. In 2017, I came to Lyon for the International Acoustics Master’s program, one of the 19 IDEXLYON Master’s programs.

Aside from the challenge of learning a new language and immersing myself in a completely different culture, I applied for this Master’s program because of its high educational quality. In fact, during my second semester, I was given the opportunity to do an internship in the tribology and system dynamics laboratory (CNRS, École Centrale de Lyon, ENISE, ENTPE).

Why did you choose the IDEXLYON Acoustics Master’s program?

The Université de Lyon’s Acoustics Master’s program is taught over a two-year period, and is backed by the CelyA LabEx (Lyon Acoustics Center), which brings together the main acoustics research teams in Lyon. The program is coordinated by the École Centrale de Lyon and Polytech-Lyon (the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1’s engineering school), in collaboration with the ENTPE and the INSA Lyon.

The Acoustics Master’s program provides training in multiple areas, such as aero-acoustics, vibro-acoustics, sound perception, ultrasound, which have many different applications for the environment, transportation and health. The study program consists of theoretical learning, digital and experimental work, projects carried out in partner laboratories and research training with over one semester spent doing an internship in a laboratory or business in France or abroad.

And finally, this Master’s program is very cosmopolitan because ten of its 22 students are international students. This is why classes are taught in both French and English.

What are your career goals?

This Master’s program offers the possibility to work in a research office or a company’s research and development department. The program is very well-suited to everyone’s career goals, as it offers a large selection of modules and tutoring. I would like to become an acoustician, but I am not sure which field I will go into yet. This is why I am trying to find very diverse internships so I can narrow down my career goals.

I am planning to travel to Australia to do a building acoustics internship in the field of environmental acoustics. It is possible to be an acoustician in Malaysia, in particular in the field of civil engineering and in the oil and gas industry, but the field is still in its early stages of development in my country. This is why I would like to begin my career in France, perhaps even in Lyon, which is at the cutting edge of acoustics, or in Australia.