Back to Profiles

Description: Testing of headphones: These headphones would need to function under extremely loud sounds since they would be used on airport runways.  I was assigned to help design a measurement room where sounds could be played up to 120 dB.  The previous analog configuration of the measurement room would be replaced with a digital system controlled by a computer.  I helped set up the devices so that they would play correctly.  I needed to follow testing procedures and calibration procedures for the measurement room to function correctly.  Finally, I made presentations of my progress and wrote up documentation for the final product for the use of future interns.

Making presentations was useful as it gave me the opportunity to practice public speaking and organizing my thoughts in a coherent manner.  I learned how to use sound equipment such as equalizers, mixers and microphones.  I was also exposed to some elementary details of sound engineering such as low frequency summation."

Comments: "I was able to play around with sound equipment, a field which I was interested in.  I was able to interact and think in German, although much of my interaction was still in English.

Learning to live on my own and to start over with making friends was difficult but rewarding.  Also, integrating into German society, speaking only in German added a new dimension to my identity.  I felt sort of like a world citizen while at the same time feeling more proud of being American."

For further information, please write to mrmyes@stanford.edu