RAMP summer bridge: Room acoustics: Connecting research, academics and mentoring

Abstract

The Research, Academics and Mentoring Pathways (RAMP) to Success summer bridge program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell prepares new engineering students from all majors for an early transition from high school to college. Over the last five years, RAMP has engaged 107 students, the majority being women and underrepresented minorities, in a six-week research, academics and mentoring experience. During RAMP, students are enrolled in Calculus and Introduction to Engineering courses, earning six credits towards their degree pathway. Groups of 5–6 students take on research projects with engineering faculty while also meeting weekly with professionals from industry. The structuring of a room acoustics research project is presented. A project-based learning model helps build skills in collaborative problem solving while also supporting each student to find authentic interest in the research. The project integrates experiments on measuring room impulse responses and spatial variation of source pressure amplitude in rooms of different sizes with a model-driven analysis of the data collected. Concepts of reverberation time, backward integration and room constants reinforce calculus concepts being studied. Coding experiments on rendering speech and music through measured impulse responses and filters created interest across a range of acoustics topics from concert halls to virtual audio.