Olivia Heui Young Park, assistant professor in the mechanical, aerospace, and acoustical engineering department and Natalie Ramos, an undergraduate junior studying mechanical engineering with a concentration in acoustics from the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA) at the University of Hartford presented at the 190th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), held May 11–15, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Park had an invited poster in the "Undergraduate and Graduate Program in Acoustics" session hosted by the ASA Student Council, and Natalie Ramos presented a lecture in the special session "Acoustics in Public Accommodations Spaces."
Natalie Ramos
Faculty Advisor: Olivia Heui Young Park
Lecture Title: Research and development of an affordable, wearable, sound-level-meter to notify users to promote hearing health awareness (2pAAa5)
Natalie Ramos’s research aims to highlight the importance of hearing health, and the detrimental effects of prominent noise sources that could cause permanent hearing damage by promoting awareness. Ramos developed an affordable, portable, and open-source sound level meter (SLM) to notify users when they are exposed to potentially dangerous noise levels.
Ramos's talk was very well attended with more than 70 people in attendance!
Support for this work was provided by The Women’s Advancement Initiative’s Dorothy Goodwin Project Grantee Program, which was made possible thanks to a generous bequest from Dorothy Goodwin. The Women’s Advancement Initiative at the University of Hartford is proud to continue the legacy of advancing educational opportunities in the Hartford College for Women tradition.
Ramos also received the Student Travel Award from the National Council of Acoustical Consultants.
Olivia Heui Young Park, PhD
Poster Title: Acoustics research led by undergraduates and faculty at the University of Hartford (1pID6)
Dr. Park represented the University of Hartford and the Acoustical Engineering Program: the two degree options for students, recent projects, and more. Several students and educators stopped by to discuss potential collaborations and future research projects.
Connecting with Alumni
During the 190th ASA Conference, alumni of the University of Hartford’s Acoustical Engineering and Music and Mechanical Engineering with Acoustics Concentration gathered to celebrate and share their experiences in Acoustics! Many alumni are graduates or current graduate students in the Acoustics program at Penn State, where Dr. Park received her PhD, and other alumni work in various companies that attend the ASA conference regularly.
Some of the recent alumni were: Molly Smallcomb '17, Jack Case '19, Matthew Olmstead '20, Grace Wood '22, Jamie Chung '23, Kevin Kim '23, and Jack Lyons '24. Other recent alumni (not pictured) also at the conference were Noah Barbour '25 and Joe Fletcher '23. There were many more UHart alumni in attendance, representing the history and the strong presence of the acoustical engineering program, founded back in 1979!
The conference was an amazing week of connecting with alumni, educators, industry professionals, and other students. The conference served as an opportunity to learn more about graduate studies, innovative research, and the vast opportunities in acoustical engineering careers. ASA is one of the few professional societies that have a dedicated student council that plans events specifically for students, with the goal of fostering a welcoming environment for all. Dr. Park served on the student council as the representative for Architectural Acoustics prior to joining the University of Hartford.