Genelec Announces Scholarship Awards

Natick, MA—Genelec Inc. has announced the recipients of its annual Martikainen and Chafee scholarships, awarded in association with the Audio Engineering Society Educational Foundation (AESEF).

This year’s Martikainen Scholarship recipient, Najla Silmi, is an incoming student in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Rochester, also currently working toward her NYS hearing aid dispenser license. Silmi’s long-term goal is to become a professor in electrical or audio engineering, conducting research at the intersection of auditory neuroscience, digital signal processing and hearing aid design.

The Genelec Dr. Ilpo Martikainen Audio Visionary Scholarship is awarded annually to U.S. graduate students in the field of audio engineering who are members of the Audio Engineering Society. The scholarship, in the amount of $5000, is being offered in association with the AESEF to students who have a passion for advancing audio through innovation and technology development.

The scholarship was established in 2018 in honor of Genelec’s late founder, Dr. Ilpo Martikainen. For many years, Dr. Martikainen was involved in the AES, including being presented with the AES Fellowship Award for significant contributions in the field of loudspeaker development in 1993, and in 2015 delivering the Richard C. Heyser Memorial Lecture at the 138th AES International Convention in Warsaw, Poland.

Nancy Rico-Mineros, Stanford University, Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics [CCRMA].

This year’s Chafee Scholarship recipient, Nancy Rico-Mineros, awarded this grant for the second year in a row, is a graduate student in audio engineering at Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics [CCRMA], where she is working on her thesis which discusses Music Tech curriculum in higher education, addressing the past, the present and the possible future given the current state of AI.

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The Genelec Mike Chafee Audio Pioneering Scholarship, in the amount of $5000, is presented annually in association with the AESEF to female students who have a passion for advancing audio through innovation and technology development. The scholarship was established to promote the advancement of women in the audio industry while paying tribute to noted long-time Genelec manufacturer’s representative, audiophile, sound designer, acoustician, audio evangelist and supporter of women in audio, Michael Chafee.

The scholarship is offered annually to U.S. female graduate students in the field of audio engineering who are members of the AES.