CIRE Grant Recipient Testimonials
The Committee on International Research and Education has solicited brief testimonials from Grant recipients describing how the grant provided assistance in their work in acoustics and in their graduate education to illustrate the impact of this program on the education and research of the grant recipients worldwide. Grant recipients since the inception of the CIRE program can be found on the CIRE Grant Recipients webpage.
2019 Recipients
Arquiteta Marselle Nunes Barbo
Federal University of Santa Maria, Brasil
I appreciate the support of the International Student Grant for the year 2019 from CIRE of the ASA, in my PhD research in the area of room acoustics. This support was very important to subsidize the trips that I had to make to another city for the investigation and the transportation of equipment for the acoustical measurements in museums. The student membership of the ASA was very important because having access to ASA's research is fundamental to my literature review. Thank you so much ASA and CIRE!
2020 Recipients
Veerababu Dharanalkota
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India
Acoustic analysis of circular reactive and dissipative chambers by means of Green’s function
I am grateful for being awarded the International Student Grant for the year 2020 from CIRE of the ASA. Life does not always go as we plan. COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone to work remotely. The grant helped to procure accessories to conduct my research remotely. Further, the grant spread the wings in attending a virtual conference to present my work on the global platform. In addition, the student membership offered under the grant gave me an access to the ocean of knowledge in acoustics. Thank you again CIRE, ASA for supporting me.
Ekaterina M. Ponomarchuk
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation
Investigation of ultrasound atomization of blood clot in HIFU fields with varying amplitudes and focusing angles
I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to receive the International Student Grant for the year 2020 from CIRE of the ASA. The funding conveniently coincided with the graduation time and provided me with a new office desk at home and a more powerful computer for preparation of my Master’s thesis. This way, the grant contributed to more efficient and enjoyable implementation of the computational and writing steps of my project. Moreover, my ASA student membership gave me access to the publications I needed while writing my thesis and preparing journal articles. And last but not the least, being awarded the grant meant that my research was appreciated which was an additional encouragement to continue my work. Thank you for supporting my research!
Jakub B. Spytek
AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland
Efficient full-field imaging of structural damages with use of guided ultrasonic waves
I am very grateful for the support of the Acoustical Society of America through the International Student Grant and the acknowledgment of my research in the field of ultrasonic waves. Thanks to the funding, I was able to set up a home office workspace, which was very helpful during the difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, I was able to advance a major part of my research involving numerical simulations of guided waves and developing signal processing techniques. The student membership of the ASA, and related access to the ASA's publication database were also beneficial to my research.
Nkechi Mgbodichinma Ukaegbu
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Berom vowel harmony system: An experimental and theoretical approach
I thank the Committee on International Research and Education (CIRE) and Acoustical Society of America for the international students’ grant awarded me in 2019. With this generous support, I was able to lay the groundwork for my PhD thesis. The CIRE provided me with the funds to reach out to mentors, language consultants and to employ bilingual research assistants (who are also Berom native speakers) who aided me in the collection data. It facilitated my travel costs (several trips were made from Enugu to Jos), living expenses (accommodation and feeding); throughout my stay within Riyom local government area of Plateau state (my research area/population) which helped me through the first phase of my field work. It also availed me the opportunity to attend an acoustic conference in 2020 in University of Nigeria, Nsukka; where I presented a paper and interacted with senior colleagues; who provided me with necessary materials and direction on how to write my research proposal.
Also, with the funding I received, I bought a laptop, a recorder and an acoustic headphone. It is my hope that this will still open new frontiers in the nearest future for more grants, so that I can gather a larger set of data (second field work) needed for the next stages of my thesis. And also in tidying up my doctoral thesis writing and publishing the thesis in high impact factor journals. It was indeed an absolute relief and pleasure to receive the support of CIRE, ASA at this initial stage of my work and I am extremely grateful. Attached here, is the certificate of participation for the conference.
2022 Recipients
Maria Paula Rey Baquero
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
Effects of underwater marine noise in the acoustic biodiversity of the Gulf of Tribugá, Colombia
I am very grateful to the Committee on International Research and Education (CIRE) and the Acoustical Society of America for motivating and supporting my research. Thanks to the CIRE students’ grant that was awarded to me in 2022, I was able to cover some necessary expenses for the fieldwork for my master's research. Also thanks to the funding, I was able to buy a computer with fast enough processing speeds to allows me to do the acoustic analysis necessary to achieve my research objective. Furthermore, the ASA student membership will be very useful in the process of writing my research and disseminating the results. I appreciate it very much because my interests in acoustics could be enriched by having access to these articles. Having this membership is an opportunity to learn new things and ask myself new questions for future research. Thank you so much ASA!
Ela Fasllija
Bilkent University
An approach on designing wideband acoustic meta-absorbers for architectural applications
I am delighted and forever grateful to be one of ASA's CIRE 2022 grant recipients. This award provided financial support for my doctoral research, which focused on developing new absorptive materials to be used as wall panels. For this work, it was mandatory to use CNC machining tools and impedance tube laboratory setups. Unfortunately, being affiliated with a design department made it difficult to have free access to such laboratories. Due to this grant, we could manufacture and then make the respective impedance tube measurements of the developed materials in accredited labs in Istanbul. The ASA student membership and access to the ASA's publication database were also beneficial to my research. The granted financial support accelerated my doctoral studies in Turkey, a country facing significant economic issues due to high inflation in the last two years. Moreover, switching to acoustics two years after starting my Ph.D. and working on a new interdisciplinary topic was quite challenging. Being awarded this grant from such a prestigious society as ASA encouraged me to continue working on my research.