Ronald A. Roy
Ronald A. Roy FREng FASA is an American engineer, physicist, and academic, who is an expert in physical acoustics and its applications to ultrasonics, biomedical acoustics, acousto-optics, cavitation, and bubble swarm acoustics.
Overview
Roy is professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and a former head of the Department of [Engineering Science, University of Oxford|Department of Engineering Science] at the University of Oxford, where he served for 12 years as the chaired professor of mechanical engineering from 2013 while serving as professorial fellow at Harris [Manchester College, Oxford|Harris Manchester College]. Prior to joining Oxford, he spent 17 years as a professor of mechanical engineering at Boston University where, while serving as department chair from 2007–2013, he oversaw the successful merger of the former Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and the Department of Manufacturing Engineering. Roy also held research posts at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory and the University of Mississippi’s National Center for Physical Acoustics. In 2025 he took up the post of Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships for the Maine College of Engineering and Computing at the University of Maine, where he is currently employed.Roy is a Fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Acoustical Society of America, and served as the society’s vice president in 2016–2017. During 2006–2007, he spent a year at Balliol College as the 65th George Eastman Distinguished Visiting Professor. He served on the editorial boards for the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America and IEEE-UFFC and was editor in chief of Acoustic Research Letters Online. He has engaged industry by way of numerous consultancies and service on directorial and advisory boards, most recently First Light Fusion, an Oxford spin-out focused on novel technology for fusion energy production.