At 18, Samuel Jung is on his way to revolutionizing how we hear music. And he’s earned $2,000 from the Regeneron Science Talent Search for doing it.
Regeneron recognizes young U.S. scientists who are creating ideas and solutions to challenges. This year, 300 were selected from a field of 1,805.
But Jung, a Woodward Academy senior, didn’t start out with the goal of being in that group. In fact, he was coaxed into signing up for the schools’ Independent Scientific Research program that put him on the musical path.
“My math teacher pushed me to take it, and I’m really glad I did,” said Jung. “I like science, so it’s a good fit.”
The ISR program has been part of the school’s curriculum for about 10 years, said science teacher Kevin Hurysz, who leads the initiative with a typical enrollment of four to seven.
“The philosophy is to give students authentic opportunities to do research,” he said. “They go somewhere outside of Woodward to join a lab and perform research. For 95% of the time, it’s with a university; we have faculty from places like Emory, UGA and Georgia Tech that we’ve worked with in the past. They enjoy having our students in their labs. But if the [researchers’] interests don’t match what the students want, we do more work to find a fit.”
The pandemic has actually made the program more flexible, said Hurysz.
“Last year, someone worked remotely with researchers at Ohio State,” he said. “That was new to us. We usually try to place students locally, but we’ve become much more flexible in how we run the class as a result of COVID.”
Students typically spend most of the summer before their senior years in a lab exploring their topics. They return to Woodward in the fall to write up their findings. In the spring, they put together a presentation for the community. Jung plans to showcase his work around an alternative to traditional microphones.
“I knew I wanted to do something in music, and my course director and I found acoustics research at Georgia Tech,” he said.
Jung’s project centered around how music is heard and processed, and how to make instruments louder without blasting amps that blur the sound.
“What makes concerts so exciting?” Jung asked. “Hint: The louder the music, the more hyped the crowd. But if you turn up the volume too much, it’s like a blaring air horn. What if you could turn a microphone into a sticker and stick it on the instrument? Theoretically, you could get it a lot louder. There’s cool science behind it that I want to make applicable to all instruments.”
Jung started experimenting with a guitar, an instrument he doesn’t play. But it’s proved informative to his research, and that work earned him the $2,000 Regeneron recognition and another $2,000 donation to his school.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting that result,” said Jung. “I’m really happy to take this class and continue the research. I’d like to someday work in the music technology field.”
Information about Woodward Academy is online at woodward.edu.
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
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