Dear students,

The Support Association for International Students of the University of Aizu (SAISUA) is happy to announce the availability of scholarships for the 1st semester of the academic year 2015. We welcome you to apply by January 16th, 2015.

A) Eligibility
1. An international full-time regular undergraduate or graduate student at the University of Aizu
2. Not currently receiving a scholarship of more than 50,000 yen per month
3. Demonstrated high academic achievement

B) Scholarship Support
1. Amount: 20,000 yen per month for six months

C) Application procedure (How to apply)
1. Online application form: http://saisua.u-aizu.ac.jp/wordpress/
2. Upload the required supporting documents at the SAISUA homepage (the link above). These include latest transcript (REQUIRED, either issued by UoA or other institutions) and a document explaining your reasons for applying. If your transcript is in a language other than English, attach the translation (Your own translation is OK). It may help your case to provide other supporting documents such as your CV. These should be sent directly to Prof. Rockell (RQ 266).
3. Sealed letter of recommendation from your supervisor with hanko and/or signature. Please ask your supervisor to send the letter directly to Prof. Rockell.

D) Requirements for scholarship winners
Each winner of a SAISUA scholarship is expected to participate in at least two international university or community events during the year of the scholarship. Such activities might include:

– Giving an international talk about your country
– Making a local school visit to talk about your country to schoolchildren
– Giving a campus tour to visitors
– Working at an international booth or activity during the Campus Festival
– Attending the bi-annual University Welcome Party to greet new international students
– Other activities suggested by CSIP (Center for Strategy of International Programs) office

E) Application due date: January 16th, 2015

If interested, please visit our homepage: http://saisua.u-aizu.ac.jp/wordpress/

Sincerely,

Younghyon Heo
Associate Professor
Center for Language Research
University of Aizu

This post is report of meeting at January 24, 2014.

Presenter: Chamila Karunatilake

Title: Music Genre Classification based on Chord Progression

Presentation abstract:

His research focuses on music genre classification of musical signals based on the chord progressions.  To extract the chord-based features from the musical signals, chroma vector named pitch class profile (PCP) is used. Instead of using chord labeling from the PCP to perform the classification, PCPs are directly used alone with chord progression templates.  Chord progressions templates are vectors which have the same structure of PCPs and they represent the musical knowledge of the common and representative chord patterns of different music genres. He will experiment with more data and enhance the chord classification method.

At the end of meeting, we reportd on progress of our graduation (or master) thesis.

This post is report of meeting at January 10, 2014.

Next week meeting can not hold because UoA will have preparing for the National Center for University Entrance Examination. So, our next meeting is held on January 16 instead of ordinary meeting with a guest lecture.
Details of this lecture :

• Place : S8
• Date : January 16, 2014
• Time : 13:10 – 14:40

Prof. Julián gives us some advices for writing thesis.
Rules for proof-reading

• Use of latex is strongly recommend
• Use American spelling
• Run the spell-checker! (SERIOUSLY!!)
• Read what you have written before sending it
• If you want comments, send a PDF title formatted as single column, double space
• Integrate previous comments in the current draft

Finally,  Sanuki-kun who is a member of spatial media group, won the encouragement technology of made in Aizu-Wakamatsu prize!
He made a iOS application that is a navigation system with spatial sound.
He went to professor’s office to get some advices for application and presentation. This is a best example to improve research, thesis, presentation, and so on.

presenter wataru sanuki
title: 立体音響を用いた道案内システム
purpose: rehearsal of presentation at aizu technology campaign
content
outline: 動機、研究課題、アプリイメージ、技術、開発方法、アプリの用途、進捗状況
動機: 立体音響とGSPシステムを組み合わせることにより、より安全性の高い道案内システムを構築するため
研究課題: 立体音響とGPSシステムの組み合わせ
技術: Unity, Google Static Maps API
アプリの用途: 目的地に行くための道案内システム、車を見つける
進捗状況: システムの大部分は完成、効果的な立体音響の生成をする段階

We are pleased to sponsor a seminar next week about spatial sound.
All are welcome.

Date: Thursday, Jan. 16

Location: room S8

Time: 13:10 — 14:40

Speaker: Sungyoung Kim

Affiliation: Electrical, Computer, and Telecommunication Engineering
Department, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, USA.

Abstract:
In order to provide consumers more enhanced and immersive experience in sound, most of the new multi-channel reproduction formats highlight the significance of height-related information. In this talk, we investigated the influence of height-related room impulse responses when reproduced via various “height-loudspeakers,” including a virtual loudspeaker. Test participants listened to the corresponding sound fields and rated their perceived quality in terms of spaciousness and integrity. The results showed that perceived quality was affected by height loudspeaker positions but not by height signals, which was convolved with specific room impulse responses.

Biography:
Sungyoung Kim received a B.S. degree from Sogang University, Korea, in 1996, and a Master of Music and Ph.D. degree from McGill University, Canada, in 2006 and 2009 respectively. His professional work experiences include recording/balance engineer at Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), Seoul, Korea (1995–2001) and research associate at Yamaha Corporation (2007–2012), Hamamatsu, Japan. He is now an assistant professor at Electrical, Computer, and Telecommunication Engineering Department, Rochester Institute of Technology. His research interests are spatial audio and human perception, and efficient ear training methods. He is a member of the IEEE and Audio Engineering Society (AES).