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David receiving $150 for the project entitled PhonoNet: Deep Learning for Raga Identification in Indian Classical Music, an analy- sis of vocal Indian classical music. This form of music usually has no written notes and is passed on from teacher to disciple, with no real possibility of learning the music at an individual level without a live expert mentor. First, individual 150-second-long segments of music in the frequency domain were created through Fourier transformation and then used as training blocks for a neural net- work. Because Indian classical vocal pieces can be longer than 30 minutes, algorithms were implemented to patch individual 150- second segments of audio data to document the full-length song. The purpose of this exercise was to enable individuals to learn and train in the Indian classical singing genre without the immediate need of an in-person singing expert as well as a means to memo- rialize the vocal music of well-known singers for the future. The project abstract is available at ow.ly/xcGF30oQ5Bd.
Finally, honorable mention from the ASA was made to Neil David Cayanan, Shaira Gozun, and E’van Relle Tongol, Angeles City Science High School (Angeles City, Philippines) for their project Hibla: An Alternative Sound Absorption Material. The team’s mentor was Lolita Bautista. The highly animated team described the fabrication of a noise control barrier material using native and abundant natural materials (abacá, bamboo, and water hyacinth). After fabricating these samples with different ratios of poly- ester, the group performed standardized characterization for noise control (ASTM International tests for absorption, impedance, soundproofing, and reverberation), comparing their material with currently used synthetic material such as rockwool. The prototype materials were also tested for fire resistance and thermal insulation. Overall, the reformu- lated materials using primarily natural components proved better barriers compared with the existing materials used for noise control in structures. The abstract is available at ow.ly/EPIx30oQ5Ck.
In addition to the cash prizes, all the winners, including the honorable mention, have been invited to attend the 178th ASA meeting in San Diego, CA, December 2-6, 2019, and will
receive financial assistance to help defray the cost of travel.
I regularly judge various scientific and technology programs. However, judging the ISEF event, as I have done a couple of times earlier, is by far my favorite, considering the young age and passion for mastering their areas of interest that these high-school students demonstrate. The students are
highly motivated to observe, learn, and innovate, and their in-person interviews provide a rare insight into their con- fidence and curiosity. The event this year, compared with the event in Phoenix (2016), was striking in the competi- tors’ adeptness in using easily accessible computational tools, cloud computing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. It is also impressive how the ASA judging group comes together, bringing interdisciplinary thinking to achieve consensus. In terms of validation of the project choices of the ASA-SAO that were picked for recognition, all three prize-winning projects received additional category or special prizes. For ASA colleagues who are interested in learning about a wide array of scientific areas, judging at ISEF would be well worth the 2- to 3-day effort it takes to participate. More information about judging at future ISEF events can be obtained by contacting the ASA education coordinator (kjones@acousticalsociety.org).
References
Vipperman, J. (2018). Acoustical Society of America at the 2018 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Acoustics Today, 14(4), 66-68. https://doi.org/10.1121/AT.2018.14.4.66.
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