When it comes to understanding how sound impacts our environment and our communities, Kim Riegel knows how to “bring the noise.” As Farmingdale State College (FSC) Assistant Professor of Physics, Riegel’s main field of scholarly research has been acoustics, with a special focus on noise control. 

“I've been doing supersonics  research since I was a graduate student,” said Riegel, who earned a PhD in acoustics from Pennsylvania State University in 2011. “The supersonics community is small but mighty. But, acoustics, in general, is very accessible to a wide variety of people because everybody has had some experience with sound or music in their lives and feels strongly about it. And so, this is kind of the bridge between art, community, and science.” 

Through the Federal Aviation Administration and the NASA-funded New York Space Grant (NYSG) Consortium, Riegel has been extensively studying the effects of sonic booms from supersonic aircraft, including newly developed “low boom” aircraft and lesser-known secondary sonic booms — faint, prolonged rumbling sounds heard when atmospheric conditions refract shock waves back to the ground. Riegel’s findings helped uncover how secondary sonic boom effects change seasonally along the West and East Coasts. 

“Starting at the nose of the aircraft, the pressure waves trail behind the aircraft in a cone shape— that’s the sonic boom that comes off and hits on the ground. But the part that I look at is this right here,” Riegel said holding up a 3D model of a Mach cone. “This normally just goes up into the atmosphere, goes away and nobody hears about it. But sometimes the weather in the high upper atmosphere is in such a configuration that this gets bent back around and it actually hits kilometers in front of the aircraft. It's not as loud as the sonic boom right underneath, but it is still audible. When the Concorde was flying, people complained about this sound. And so, we are looking at how this can impact people and how do we handle that.”

Currently, Riegel, who also serves as chair of the Education in Acoustics Technical Specialty Group for the Acoustical Society of America, is helping advance NASA’s development of the Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst, an experimental, supersonic aircraft that is part of NASA's Low Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) project.  As flight testing continues to expand the craft's performance envelope, aerodynamics, and noise profile, project data will then be presented to international regulators to help rewrite the rules for commercial overland supersonic flight. 

Recently, Riegel expanded her research to include Sophie Nitzberg, ’26, a science, technology, and society major, and Jon Bouza, a dual-degree    student in the Mechanical Engineering Technology and Professional Pilot Programs, as part of NASA’s National Space Grant College and Fellowship Project. The students helped develop a robust community outreach plan that will help support the LBFD project's vital community outreach effort. Their plan included focus groups with local school district officials, LEGO models, museum exhibits, and prototypes for affordable acoustic sensors. 

“Overall, my experience has been very positive. There is always something to work on and something new to learn. It is challenging in all the best ways,” said Nitzberg. “Professor Riegel is very welcoming, helpful, and is passionate about what we are doing which definitely makes me excited to continue to work on this research with her. And getting to be a part of this very important research is a fascinating experience. Not only am I learning more about coding and design, but also about sonic aircrafts, NASA, and sonic booms! This experience has definitely helped me prepare for my future,” added Nitzberg, who looks forward to a career in digital product design.

“My experience researching under Professor Riegel has been wildly positive,” agreed Bouza, who shared he has enjoyed sharpening his computer programming and 3D modeling skills and making new friends through the program. “The research group has helped me prepare for the future…it has given me the experience needed to land a job elsewhere or apply for graduate school,” added Bouza, who plans to commission with the U.S. Air Force as a pilot trainee. 

The Future of Travel
As her research continues and advancements in overland supersonic travel emerge on the horizon, Riegel expects reverberations could be felt across the globe for years to come. 

“It cuts aircraft travel time in half,” said Riegel. “For people who do a lot of traveling for business, it's going to make traveling more feasible for them. And it’s going to affect commerce with how quickly goods can be transported. This could have a tremendous impact on the global economy. If we can viably create a commercial supersonic aircraft while protecting the noise landscape of our communities, it would change the face of commercial travel for generations.” 

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