AES Educational Foundation Announces 2013 Awards

	Don Puluse, president of the AES Educational Foundation

The Educational Foundation of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) has announced the recipients of the 2013 AES Educational Grants for Graduate Studies in Audio Engineering. The announcement was made by Don Puluse, President of the AES Educational Foundation (AESEF), on behalf of the foundation's board of directors.

Puluse stated, "We began awarding these distinctions in 1984, so this is our 30th year honoring the great potential of our community's bright minds. The honorees for this landmark year are extraordinary talents, with impressive academic resumes and real-world experience. If this is part of the brain trust that will guide our industry into the next era in audio engineering, I think we are in great hands."

Two new special grants are being generously provided by Harman International Industries to support graduate education in audio. These grants are being awarded to Harman Scholars Brecht De Man and Kai Siedenburg. De Man has undergraduate and graduate degrees in electrical engineering from University of Ghent, Belgium, and is studying for his Ph.D. at Queen Mary University of London. Siedenburg has an MS in mathematics from Humboldt University Berlin, and is a Ph.D. candidate in music technology, department of music research, at McGill University. He was previously a Fulbright visiting student at UC Berkeley and did his master's thesis at University of Vienna.

The Emil Torick Scholar distinction is being given to Kathleen Gray, who is earning an MA in acoustical studies, specializing in psychoacoustics, at the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins. She holds a BM in violin performance from Towson University. The Emil Torick Award honors an outstanding student with exceptional career goals. Former AESEF president Torick, coincidentally, was also a fine violinist.

The John Eargle Award, given annually to a student who excels in both technology and music, is presented to Elizabeth Marston towards her MM in sound recording at McGill University. Marston holds a BA in music from Seattle Pacific University and has completed coursework at the Berklee College of Music.

Repeat awards are granted to Areti Andreopoulou and Ross Penniman. Andreopoulou is studying for her Ph.D. in music technology at the Steinhardt School of NYU. She has a degree from the University of Athens, Greece, and an MM from Steinhardt. Penniman holds a BM and a BS from University of Michigan, and will receive an MS in music engineering technology from the University of Miami.

Other AES Educational Foundation Awards for Ph.D. studies are offered to Javed Hamza and Rebecca Vos. Hamza is pursuing a Ph.D. in speech and audio processing from Imperial College London, where he also completed his previous degrees. Vos has a BS in physics from Manchester University, an MS in audio acoustics from the University of Salford, and will earn her Ph.D. in electronic engineering from the University of York.

Other AES Educational Foundation Awards for master's studies are offered to Kevin Fallis, Charles Holbrow, and Marlene Mathews. Fallis will receive an MM in sound recording from McGill University, where he also received his BM before receiving a diploma from Vancouver Film School. Holbrow completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and will receive a masters from M.I.T. in media arts and sciences. Mathews is studying for an MM in music technology at McGill University. Her previous degree is a BS in computer science from Long Island University. She also attended Recording Engineers Institute.

The AES Educational Foundation was established in 1984 to encourage talented students to enter the profession of audio engineering. Grants for graduate studies with emphasis on audio topics are awarded annually. Recipients are selected on the basis of demonstrated talent, achievements, goals, and recommendations. Since its inception, the AESEF has presented nearly 200 grants at 60 universities worldwide, totaling over $700,000. Grants have been made possible by contributions from AES, Inc., HARMAN International Industries Inc., the estate of John K. Hilliard, JBL Inc., the Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio, and the families of John Eargle, David Smith, and Emil Torick. The AES also receives support from other benefactors such as in-memoriam donors, and individuals and companies that support education in audio. Application forms and additional information are available from the Audio Engineering Society, 60 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10165, USA, or on its web site at the URL below.