International Science and Engineering Fair

As a Special Award Organization, the ASA awards four finalists with cash prizes for themselves, their mentors, and their schools as well as financial support to attend the next ASA meeting.

About ASA at ISEF

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) began participating at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in 1978 in order to promote acoustics and recognize the accomplishments of high-school students. ASA’s long-time participation in ISEF recognizes the importance of promoting STEM education and generating interest in acoustics among all students.

Nearly every year that ASA has taken part, a report has been published to announce the winners to the Society. For convenience, all reports will be collected here. To read winning student abstracts, please visit exploresound.org.

Poster hall at the 2018 Intel ISEF in Pitsburgh, PA.

2022 Report in Acoustics Today

ASA ISEF judging team: Laurie Heller (Chair), Andy Chung, Robert Smith, Jeffrey Vipperman

First Award: Amara Orth, Secret Sounds of Bees: Analysis of Honey Bee Vibroacoustics Using Hidden Markov Models
Second Award: Chinmayi Ramasubramanian, Averting Human-Elephant Conflict Using Machine Learning on Elephant Vocalizations
Third Award: Gwyneth Liu, Novel Model of an Adaptive Wave Energy Converter With Spectral Analysis-Based Sea State Classification
Honorable Mention: Anu Iyer, Systematic Parkinson Audio Recognition Construct (SPARC): A Novel Approach Implementing a Machine Learning Method To Diagnose Parkinson’s Disease Using Voice Features

2021 Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: Laurie Heller (Chair), Inder Makin, Xin Luo, and Thomas Kaufmann

First Award: Wanjia Fu, Why Do Beginners Produce Noise Instead of Music When They Play Musical Instruments? —Taking Erhu for Example
Second Award: Eugene Choi, Irfan Nafi, and Raffu Khondaker, SoundScape: Real-Time 3D Sound Localization and Classification with Sensory Substitution for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Third Award: Govardhan Poondi and John Rho, A Non-Invasive Ear-EEG Hearing Aid to Address the Cocktail Party Problem via Cloud-Based Deep Learning
Honorable Mention: Chinmayi Ramasubramanian, Diagnosing the Stage of COVID-19 using Machine Learning on Breath Sounds

2019 Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: Inder Raj S. Makin (Chair), Julie Liss, Xin Luo, and Thomas Kaufmann

First Award: Haruka Hinami, Ayana Miyazaki, and Yui Tamada, Novel Subtle Acoustic Communication: Successful Elucidation of the Cryptic Ecology of Runner Plant Bugs (Hallodapus spp.) with Emphasis on Their Stridulatory Mechanisms
Second Award: Joonyoung Lee and Mincheol Park, SHOWPAM: System of High-Efficiency Ocean Wave Power with Acoustic Metamaterial
Third Award: Sauhaarda Chowdhuri, PhonoNet: Deep
Learning for Raga Identification in Indian Classical Music
Honorable Mention: Neil David Cayanan, Shaira Gozun, and E’van Relle Tongol, Hibla: An Alternative Sound Absorption Material

2018 Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: Jeffrey Vipperman (Chair), Jeff Babich, and Laurie Heller

First Award: Anwesha Mukherjee, A Novel Approach to Recognize Emotion from Speech Using Machine Learning Algorithms to Aid Social Interaction of Kids with Autism
Second Award: Sharmi Shah, Speech Intelligibility Analysis of Sound-Modulated Laser Signal Countermeasures
Third Award: Gabrielle Liu, Preventing Domestic Violence Using Emotion Recognition in Speech
Honorable Mention: Rohan Ahluwalia, A Fully Functional Closed- Loop System Using Ultrasound Imaging to Automatically Detect Lipohypertrophy in People with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes

2013 – Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: Inder Makin (Chair), Bruce Towe, and Yi Zhou

First Award: Myles Mitchell, Misbehaving Waves: The SurReal Thing
Second Award: Ivan Seleznov, An “EXTRA” Sense: Ultrasound Glove Assisting Spatial Orientation of the Visually Impaired
Honorable Mention: Akshat Boobna, Finding Best Speaker Position Using New Algorithms to Determine Acoustic Properties of a Room
Honorable Mention: Tomohiko Sato and Takahiro Yomono, ‘V-shaped Wave’ Generated by a Moving Object: Analyses and Experiments on Capillary Gravity Waves

2012 – Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: Richard Stern (Chair), Matthew Poese, and Frederick Poese

First Award: Savanah Frisk, Who Do You Listen To? An Exploration on the Effects of Age and Gender on Listening Comprehension
Second Award: Hawraa ALQallaf, (BAS) Bracelet Alarm System for the Hearing Impaired Parents
Honorable Mention: Nofoume Ben Ahmed Aly, Alban Teytaud, and Paul Chassagne, Setting Up a Measuring Protocol of the Reverberation Time of a Room to Improve Its Soundscape Quality
Honorable Mention: Bridget Mary Oei, Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Piezoelectric Generator: A Novel Approach to Harvesting Vibrations from Human Respiration to Power Biological Implant Devices

2011 – Report in Acoustics Today

ASA Judging team: Roman Vinokur, Neil Shaw (Chair), and Steven Martin

First Award: Andrew Beekman Feldman, Acoustic Imaging Using Optimized Beamforming Techniques
Second Award: Kelles Diane Gordge, Critical Point of View: A System for in vivo Monitoring of Lung Sounds in Critical Care Patients
Honorable Mention: Ryan Kyong-Doc Chung, Note to Self: A Transcriptional Study of Audio Files Using Fourier Transformation and New Applications
Honorable Mention: Konstantin Slavnov and Ilya S. Shoshin, Sound Wave Propagation: 3D Premises Model
Honorable Mention: Alexander Nathan Finney, Precision Location of Acoustic Sources

2010 – Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: Nick Maltsev (Chair), Robert Showen and Jie Sun

First Award: Marian Joan Bechtel, Developing a process for seismo-acoustic imaging applied to humanitarian demining
Second Award: David C. Liu, Continual adaptation of acoustic models for domain-specific speech recognition
Honorable Mention: Alexander M. Atkinson, The effect of relative drag on sonic sled velocity
Honorable Mention: Ellen Marie Price, Hidden sounds: Harmonic symmetry of human voices

2009 – Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: W. Patrick Arnott, Katherine McCall, and Timothy Darling

First Award: Jordan D. Zesch and Angad Jolly, Engineering a system to record head related transfer functions of sound from various directions
Second Award: Nicholas M. Christensen, Do you ‘ear Wha’ I ear? II. Lowering voice frequencies in real time to revolutionize hearing assistance technology
Honorable Mention: Skye N. Singleton, Violin or voice… brain food for Alzheimer’s patients
Honorable Mention: Chaneg Torres, Hey, Can you hear me? Using Isobel contour mapping to determine acoustically optimum seating positions in a given classroom

2008 – Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: James M. Sabatier (Chair), Alexander, and Zhiqu Lu

First Award: Lyric Elizabeth Gillett, Intensity and Temperature Variance in Sonoluminescence
Second Award: Nicholas Mycroft Christensen, Do You ‘ear Wha’ I ’ear? Redigitizing Voice Signals into Lower Frequencies to Revolutionize Hearing Assistance Technology

2007 – Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: Amy T. Neel and Gregory Kaduchak

First Award: Michael Tyler Wham, Calls in the Wild: Vocalizations of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Second Award: Aman Sarup and Palak Patel, A Novel Method to Measure the Speed of Sound in the Cornea
Honorable Mention: David C. Liu, Acoustic Music Similarity Analysis
Honorable Mention: Douglass Charles Niemann, Manipulating the Diffraction of Traffic Noise

2006 – Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: Diane Kewley-Port (Chair), Robert Port, and Elliott Berger

First Award: Caroline Elizabeth Pietsch, A Novel Approach to the Automatic Recognition of Emotions in Natural Speech
Honorable Mention: Jonathan Blake Sellon, Modeling Auditory Attention by Implementing IHC Movement into Frequency Selectivity of the Inner Ear: A Novel Approach to Stimuli Separation
Honorable Mention: Joseph Anthony Crivello, Acoustic Localization, Detection, and Identification: A System for More Effectively Utilizing Sound as a Tool
Honorable Mention: Courtney Anne Rafes, Tracking the Sound: A Second Year Study on an Ultrasonic Train Wreck Avoidance System

2005 – Report in Acoustics Today

ASA judging team: Duane Reynolds, Michael Dorman, Charles E. Wallace (Chair)

First Award: Pen-Yuan Hsing and Wei-Kang Huang, Enhanced Cooling of Microelectronic Devices by Using the Thermoacoustic Effect
Honorable Mention: Courtney Anne Rafes, An Ear to the Track: An Ultrasonic Train Wreck Avoidance System
Honorable Mention: Jhe-Rhong Wu, Phylogeneic Analysis of Crickets by Acoustic Behavior and Mitochondrial Sequencing

2004 – Report in JASA

ASA judging team: Alfred L. Nuttal, Charles Oppenheimer, and Kerrie G. Standlee (Chair)

First Award: Joline Marie Fan, Acoustic Excitation for Enhancing Interfacial Dynamics of Mesobubbles
First Award: Benjamin Alexander Schmidt, ASMART: Static Microphone Arrays for Robot Tracking
Honorable Mention: Alison Karee Slowey, Sound Wave Propagation in Brine Pools
Honorable Mention: Jonathan Brooks Bell, Dampening the Modes of Vibration of Multistory Scale Models Due to Seismic Waves
Honorable Mention: Alexander William Dillard, The Effects of Acoustic Pressure Disturbances on Refraction of Visible Light in Gases

2003 – Report in JASA

ASA judging team: Osman Mawardi, Jack Mowry, David Proctor, and Peter Hoekje

First Award: Sita Chandrika Palepu, Absolute vs Relative Pitch: It’s Music to My Ears! Or Is It to My Mind?
Honorable Mention: Elisabeth Lee Crabtree, The McGurk Effect: Does Age Matter?
Honorable Mention: Samrat A. Amin, Sonoluminescence
Honorable Mention: Ashley Renee Woodall, Physics of Mallet Percussion

2002 – Report in JASA

ASA judging team: Christopher Richards, Tim A. Hamel, and Alvin B. Broderson

First Award: Naveen Sinha, Bubble-Based Resonance-Doppler Sensor for Liquid Characterization
Honorable Mention: Yin Nee, Using Hidden Dynamic Models to Predict Pitch in English and Mandarin
Honorable Mention: Bryce Kittinger Campbell, Vortex-Induced Vibrations on Flexible Cylinders
Honorable Mention: Giselle M. Torres, Effect of Vibration and Calcium on Bone Density

2001 – Report in JASA

ASA judging team: Jose Benki, Nickolas Vlahopoulos, and Sean F. Wu

First Award: Leanne E. Dodge, Toward A Framework For Quantifying Timbre: Phase III
Honorable Mention: George Hwang, Can Acoustical Methods Be Used To Detect And Characterize Corrosion?
Honorable Mention: Glen G. Cheng, VNon-Intrusive Speed Determination By Doppler Shift
Honorable Mention: Naveen N. Sinha, Sound Techniques For Studying Granular Material

2000 – Report in JASA

ASA judging team: Jose Benki, Nickolas Vlahopoulos, and Sean F. Wu

First Award: Leanne E. Dodge, Toward A Framework For Quantifying Timbre: Phase III
Honorable Mention: George Hwang, Can Acoustical Methods Be Used To Detect And Characterize Corrosion?
Honorable Mention: Glen G. Cheng, VNon-Intrusive Speed Determination By Doppler Shift
Honorable Mention: Naveen N. Sinha, Sound Techniques For Studying Granular Material

1999 – Report in JASA

ASA judging team: Felicia M. Dogget, Richard M. Lec, and Peter A. Lewin (Chair)

First Award: Jeffrey S. Martzall, 2-D Audio Tracking for Aviation Guidance Systems
Second Award: Matthew O. Hart, Design and Construction of a Pseudovision Device for the Sight Impaired
Honorable Mention: Jeffrey J. Ratusznik, Optimization of a Helicopter Blade Using Piezoelectric Ceramic as a Camber Deformer
Honorable Mention: Nikolas D. Bohne, Acoustic Resonance Spectroscopy
Honorable Mention: Michelle R. Griffith, Elaine A. Pearson, and Lacey Marae Drouet, Ultrasound: Effective Management Tool in Sheep Production

1997 – Report in JASA

ASA judging team: Ann Clock Eddins (Chair) and David A. Eddin

First Award: Ehren Biglari, Computationally efficient speech coding algorithm
Honorable Mention: Paul Henderson, Equilizer tuning for feedback reduction: Phase III—Digital Fourier analysis
Honorable Mention: Gregory Charvat, Identifying and reducing radio frequency interference by spectrum analysis
Honorable Mention: Melissa Meyer, Music analysis with MIDI and fractal dimensions: Two-year study

1996 – Report in JASA

ASA judging team: Kerry P. Green and Knut Nordby

First Award: Ian A. Wann, Effect of editing waveforms of the male mating call on phonotaxis
Honorable Mention: Angela R. Bland, The Beat Goes On
Honorable Mention: Jourdan T. Balkany, Identification of Noise Induced Hearing Loss Using Otoacoustic Emissions
Honorable Mention: Paul D. Henderson, Equalizer Tuning for Feedback Reduction: Two-Year Study

2017 – No Report

ASA judging team: Roman Vinokur and Marshall Long (Chair)

First Award: Abraham Riedel-Mishaan, Ryan Folz, and Praharshasai Paladugu, Development of 3D-printed Electronic Stethoscope and Open-Source Android-Based Platform with Automated Diagnosis of Cardiac Condition
Second Award: Lucas Mayhew, An Investigation of Optimal Rural Building Designs for All Earthquake Zones of Turkey
Honorable Mention: Aya Nobe, Norika Kondo, and Sachiko Fukuzawa, Water Surface Vibration Signals Utilized by the Japanese Water Strider, Aquarius elongatus, to Locate Prey and Mate
Honorable Mention: William Broomhead, Impact the Force: Effects of Insoles on Impact Force for Gymnasts
Honorable Mention: Joseph Sartini, Real-Time Sound Localization Using a Microphone Array

2016 – No Report

ASA judging team: Inder Makin (Chair), Julie Liss, Paul Sakion, and Bruce Towe

First Award: Kim Dae Hyun, Generation of Beat Sound of Korean Bell with a Bicycle Rim
Second Award: Adrian Lenkeit and Jan Schafers, Acoustic Microfluidics with Tiny Droplets
Honorable Mention: Mukund Venkatakrishnan, Development of the First Ever Low-Cost Open-Source Hearing Test and Hearing Aid
Honorable Mention: Yiwei Song, A Feasible Solution to High Frequency Loss Based on Transposing Fundamental Frequency
Honorable Mention: Marie-Anne Irene de Gier and Bram Janssen, The Wobble: A Sustainable Noise Barrier Consisting of Noise Absorbing Materials and a Revolutionary Shape

2015 – No Report

First Award: Robert Henning, The Exchange iMproving Unit: An Auditory Device for Directional Filtering
Second Award: Mukund Venkatakrishnan, Development of a Ultra Low-Cost Integrated Audiometer and Hearing Aid
Honorable Mention: Alexandra Zoe Garth, Stay Tuned! Comparing the Effects of Long and Short-Term Auditory Stimulation for Increasing the Sensitivity of a Person’s Hearing
Honorable Mention: Ruochen Hao, Physical Simulation Based on Bat’s Pinna Structure and Its Deformation Binaural Sound Signal Measurement Experiment of Greater Horseshoe Bat
Honorable Mention: Vasily Antonovich Tremsin, Can I See It If I Cannot Hear It? Real-Time Visualization of Incoming Sound for People with Hearing Disabilities or Ear Obstruction

2014 – No Report

First Award: Akanksh Chaudhary and Marcelo Ferrari, The Physiological Effects of Noise Pollution on the Cardiovascular System of D. melanogaster
Second Award: Shelby Yuan, Ultrasound-responsive Nanoparticles for Neurotherapeutic Delivery

1998 – No Report

ASA Judging team: Deborah Rekart (Chair), David Marsh, Jack Wrightson, Laurie Bernstein

First Award: Jeffrey S. Martzall, Development of an Audio Tracking System
Honorable Mention:John Danko, Acoustical Analysis and Enhancement of a High School Gymnasium
Honorable Mention: Xing Zeng, Talking Glasses: Ultrasonic Pathfinder for the Visually Impaired
Honorable Mention: Eric F. Koperda, Simulations of Concert-Hall Acoustics by Digital Means