The research at Listen Lab seeks to achieve a fundamental understanding of acoustic-structural interaction and develop innovative acoustic devices that are enabled by bio-inspired designs and advanced materials. We are currently focusing on the following four areas:

• Bio-inspired directional microphones: mimicking the internally coupled ears found in animals such as lizards, this research aims to address the fundamental size limit in directional microphones for sound source localizations.
• Acoustic sensors for sound and health: research on this area aims to develop fiber optic, piezoelectric, and MEMS devices for sound measurements and health related applications.
• Buckling-enabled acoustic emitters: research on this area aims to improve the radiation efficiency in traditional acoustic emitters by harnessing the buckling mechanism found in cicadas.
• Acoustic and mechanical metamaterials: this research aims to understand and develop exotic properties for advanced materials with subwavelength periodic unit cells.