Dr. Ross Adrian Williams
Born in Perth, Western Australia, composer and sound designer Ross Adrian Williams has written music and designed sound across a range of styles for theatre, film, animation, dance, museum installation, 360° video and VR. His work for award winning abstract, documentary, animated and narrative films have been shown in festivals, and installations around the world including the Venice Biennale and Busan International Short Film Festival.
His interdisciplinary research collaborations have led to novel research in diverse areas, combining various scientific disciplines. These include the exploration of volcanic infrasound to improve the detection of volcanic events and gaining deeper insights into the cognitive and perceptual mechanisms underlying the impact of sound on visual memory formation in narrative fiction film.
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Doctor of Musical Arts (1999 – 2002)
Rice University, Houston, U.S.A - Master of Music (1996 -1999)
Rice University, Houston, U.S.A - Bachelor of Music (Hons) (1991-1995)
University of Western Australia
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
- British University Vietnam (BUV)
Senior Lecturer (2025 – Current) - Nanyang Technological University Singapore
Assistant Professor (2014 – 2025) - Art Institute of New York City, U.S.A
Senior lead Instructor (2003 – 2014)
RESEARCH AREAS / FIELDS
- Sound, Memory and Image: How sound effects image memory in narrative in 2D and VR films
- Pedagogy of sound in screen media
- Aesthetics of sound design for fiction narrative, experimental and documentary film.
RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
- Williams, R.A. (2024)
Voice in the Machine: AI Voice Cloning in Film.
Art Style, Art & Culture International Magazine, v. 13, no. 129-143,
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10443451 - Williams, R.A., Perttu, A. & Taisne, B. (2020)
Processing of volcano infrasound using film sound audio post-production techniques to improve signal detection via array processing.
Geoscience Letters. 7, 9 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-020-00158-4 # - Williams, R.A, (2019)
“Sound As Equal Partner in Film Production: Can Academic Instruction Change Industry Practice”
Ars et Praxis, No. VI, Sept, pp. 183-189.
RESEARCH & CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS / EXHIBITIONS
- Williams R.A. (2025)
Bird Sounds (short film, writer, director)
Busan International Short Film Festival (film screening)
Busan, South Korea - Williams R.A (2023)
Sound and Visual Memory in Narrative Film
The Society of Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference
University of North Carolina Wilmington. U.S.A - Williams R.A (2019)
Where is the Sound? Challenges and Strategies in Enhancing the Status of Sound in Media Pedagogy
3rd Music and Sound Design in Film and New Media Conference. (Keynote Address)
Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Vilnius, Lithuania. - Williams R.A (2019)
Academy Practice = Industry Practice: Sound in Media Pedagogy,
Sightlines: Screen Production and the Academy Conference,
RMIT Melbourne, Australia - Williams R.A (2018)
Processing of volcano Infrasound using film Sound Audio Post Production Techniques to Improve Signal Detection via Array Processing
European Geosciences Union, General Assembly,
Vienna, Austria (2018).
RESEARCH GRANTS
- Williams R.A (2019)
Unheard, Unseen: Sound and Memory in Sound Design for Narrative Film in 2D and VR
Singapore Ministry of Education, Tier 1 Research Grant ($53 736) - Reinhuber, E, Seide B & Williams R.A (2016)
Tangible/Intangible: Exploring the possibilities of capturing multi-sensory impressions to create immersive Virtual Reality environments, exemplified with the forking path structure of the Yunnan Garden at NTU.
Singapore Ministry of Education, Tier 1 Research Grant ($97 000) - Taisne, B, Williams R.A (2016)
Real time spatial sonification of Nature’s furies using infrasound sensors installed at NTU
Singapore Ministry of Education, Tier 1 Research Grant ($50 186)
AWARDS & HONOURS
- Vertical Movie Award Winner – New Normal 2021
4th Vertical Movie Festival, Rome, Italy
As composer, sound designer/mixer (written and directed by Chul Heo) - Grand Jury Prize, Best Short Film – Little Fiel 2019
Boulder International Film Festival, U.S.A.
As Sound Designer/Mixer (written and directed by Irina Patkanian) - Best Art Award (Group) – Gone Garden 2018
ZKM Beyond Festival, Art exhibition
ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany.
As Co-director, Composer, Sound Designer/Mixer - Faculty Excellence Award 2005
Art Institute of New York City, U.S.A - J. Hodges Awards for Outstanding Composition Student 1995
University of Western Australia, Australia
- Share
Read more 
Associate Lecturer
Programme Lead - International Business Management
Don completed his degree in business administration from Confederation and immediately began working for BC Parks. It was here he fostered a reverence for outdoor recreation, beginning the process of certification from the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. An unfortunate injury halted his career path resulting in a return to academia. Don subsequently completed an […]
Senior Lecturer
Dr. Giovanni MerolaRaised and educated in Rome, Italy, Giovanni completed a double major Bachelor degree in Statistics and Economics from the university La Sapienza in Rome. He completed his Masters and Ph.D. in Statistics at the University of Waterloo in 1994 and 1998, respectively. He was associate professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalunya in Spain, then […]
Teaching Practitioner
Programme Lead - Event Management
Raised and educated in the UK, Lee holds a TEFL, PGDBJ and an MA Degree in History from the University of Glasgow. Lee moved to Vietnam in 2015 working as an IELTS teacher, examiner and VTV4 presenter before starting her role at BUV in 2018 under part time employment as an English teacher. In 2020 […]
Associate Lecturer
Head, Centre for Academic Development
Raised and educated in Australia, Sasha spent several years in the Queensland Police Service as a Detective before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in education from Griffith University and Bond University in 2005. Sasha then completed a Masters of Educational Practice at Bond University in 2007 and began lecturing at Bond University in Communications, Child […]
Lecturer
Dr. SasikumarRaised and educated in India, Sasi completed a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Anna University. Following graduation, in 2011, he completed a Master of Technology in Information Technology. He completed his PhD in 2023, titled “A Novel Machine Learning Paradigm for Pattern Extraction from Multivariate Data Sources Using Big Data Analytics” in […]
Acting Head of School, The Business School
Dr. Dong Manh CuongDr Dong Manh Cuong is a lecturer at the School of Business, British University Vietnam (BUV). He received his Ph.D. in Economics in 2019 from Feng Chia University, Taiwan, with a remarkable doctoral thesis titled “Essays of structural changes and quantile regression on financial data.” Over the recent years, he has taught at several higher […]
Lecturer
Dr. Dang Quang VinhVinh graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Vietnam National University – Hanoi in 2009. He earned his PhD in Computer Science from Université de Lorraine in 2018, completing his thesis under the supervision of Prof. François Charoy and Dr. Claudia Ignat at Inria Nancy Grand-Est, France. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree […]
Lecturer
Dr. Donie JardelezaDonie, originating from Iloilo City, Philippines, obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of San Agustin in 2000. Over two years, he garnered valuable IT industry experience post-graduation. Transitioning to academia in 2004, he spent seven years as an Assistant Instructor at Saint Paul University Iloilo, nurturing a passion for teaching and […]
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President
Professor Rick BennettRaised and educated in London, Rick completed undergraduate studies in the Fine Arts before working for 7 years within the UK film & television industry specialising in TV commercials and music video production. After emigrating to Australia in 1990, Rick worked at the University of New South Wales (in Sydney) where for 24 years he […]
Senior Teaching Fellow
Discipline Lead - Business (University of London)
Born in Canada, raised and educated in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Mark completed a B.Sc. (Econ) at the University of Buckingham, England. Following graduation in 1984, he worked with an Economics Consultancy for a year before returning to Buckingham as a tutor. While completing his Master’s degree, he worked his way up to Lecturer before leaving […]
