Susan Voss

Susan Voss is the Achilles Professor of Engineering at the Picker Engineering Program, Smith College, where she has been a faculty member since January 2001. She teaches courses including Introduction to Engineering: Energy and the Environment, Circuit Theory, Signals and Systems, and Acoustics. Her research spans electrical engineering and auditory science, with a primary focus on sound transmission in normal and diseased ears and applications in audiometric instrumentation and auditory implants.

Dr. Voss received her B.S. in Engineering from Brown University (1991), M.S. from MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (1995), and Ph.D. from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (1998).

Her research interests include:

• Wideband acoustic immittance (WAI) measurements and database development
• Ear canal geometry and its relationship to age
• Noninvasive diagnostic tools for middle-ear problems
• Applications of acoustic measurements in hearing assessment
• Development of monitoring tools for intracranial pressure

Dr. Voss's publication record demonstrates consistent progression from fundamental acoustic principles to clinical applications, with increasing emphasis on creating standardized databases and measurement protocols. Her recent work focuses on population studies of ear acoustics, geometric modeling of ear canals, and developing non-invasive monitoring techniques with NASA collaboration.

Her significant contributions have been recognized through:

• R15 AREA grant from NIH (2014-2024) for "Development of a normative database for wide-band acoustic immittance measures"
• NSF CAREER AWARD for "Acoustic Energy Flow Through Normal and Abnormal Middle Ears"
• Tau Beta Pi National Laureate Award
• Frontiers in Education New Faculty Fellow
• AT&T Graduate Research Program for Women Grant
• Young Investigator Talk at the 2013 American Auditory Society Meeting

Dr. Voss actively supervises student research and has developed an online WAI database to facilitate research collaboration. She collaborates on NASA-funded projects to develop noninvasive tools for monitoring intracranial pressure using auditory responses, demonstrating the translational impact of her engineering research.