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Senior Brandon Cochenour (Lower Burrell, Pa.) received first place for his research paper at the Walter B. Morton Student Contest held recently by the Lehigh Valley Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
An electrical and computer engineering major, Cochenour presented work conducted under the guidance of David Rich, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, on improving the way stereo loudspeakers deliver sound. Cochenour has published his research in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society and was invited to present it in March at the 114th AES Convention in Amsterdam, Netherlands, but was unable to attend due to logistics (see related story).
“The competition was another great opportunity for me to speak about my research,” he says. “While the other papers presented came from a diverse range of topics within electrical engineering, it was quite evident that both the department and Dr. Rich had prepared me very well for speaking, communicating, and presenting my ideas on a technical subject. I felt very comfortable being in front of a judging panel of practicing electrical engineers and electrical engineering professors.”
“It was also nice to meet and chat with the electrical and computer engineering students from other schools,” he adds. “We were able to casually talk not only about the work we were presenting, but about classes, final exams, future plans, etc.”
Last Saturday, Cochenour led the Lafayette jazz trio as featured guest act at the Nazareth High School music program’s year-ending jazz concert. He founded the ensemble, which features three musicians and two singers, this school year.
President of the campus chapter of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Cochenour is a tour guide coordinator for Lafayette’s Admissions Office and a volunteer with the Adopt-a-Class program coordinated by Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center, in which he visits a third-grade class and helps students with science projects. Cochenour plays piano in the jazz ensemble and pit orchestra, plays French horn, and is a former member of The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps, based in Rosemont, Ill. He has also served as an instructor with the Nazareth Area High School Marching Band each fall.