When it comes to ingenuity and intent, Martin Mann '24 carved his own pathway to success. He took his high school dream and transformed it into career success with the help of his BW professors.
Mann came to BW from Milford, Michigan, with the goal of pursuing majors in music performance and engineering to prepare for a job in acoustics.
"BW has both a great Conservatory of Performing Arts and engineering program," he noted. "BW made it possible for me to create my own path to achieve my desired career goal. My advisors were very flexible and helpful with scheduling my classes and having certain courses count for multiple required credits."
"Their support allowed me to feel more confident about my career goal and the path I was taking to achieve it. None of my professors ever advised me to not do it. They said it will be challenging and a lot of work but that it was definitely doable," said Mann.
Mann graduated with a bachelor of music degree (studying French Horn performance) and a bachelor of science degree in engineering. This STEAM combination gave him an outstanding foundation for acoustics. He graduated in May and began work in June as an acoustics consultant with BABICHacoustics. His expertise comes in handy for a wide array of projects.
"For my job and firm, we work with all things noise, sound and vibration that are related to buildings (new, existing and historic) as well as the environment. As an example, when working on a performing arts project, we'll help design the acoustics of a performance hall to make sure performances are enjoyable for both the audience and the performers on stage," he explained.
"For these projects, we also make sure noise outside of the hall doesn't intrude into the space and that mechanical noise from HVAC systems isn't disruptive. A great and local example is Severance Music Center — you can hear the orchestra with pristine clarity everywhere in the hall, you don't hear any noise that is occurring outside of the hall and you can't hear the HVAC system," he added.
"Another project can involve making sure there is speech privacy between adjacent rooms in settings like business offices, hospitals, hotels and other places where you don't want sound to carry from one room to the next," stated Mann.
He went on to say work for other clients might involve HVAC and other mechanical systems, whose sounds might be disruptive in environments like classrooms, offices and similar noise-sensitive areas. Another area they investigate is vibrations from mechanical equipment, nearby roadways and railways, and other potential prompts. "Vibration isolation is important when working with sensitive equipment in research laboratories, as well as for the comfort of people inside of buildings, especially high-rise apartments and condos in major metropolitan areas," he said.
"A big thing that I always tell people is how amazing the community is at BW. Professors care about students and want them to succeed. They are very understanding and always enjoy talking with students, whether it is to offer advice for career goals, offer help for a class, or listen and be there for a student when they are having a bad day or something happened in their life," he emphasized.
"I credit BW with helping me pursue my career path and with helping me get a job in it. If I never toured BW back in my sophomore year of high school and saw the anechoic chamber on campus with Dr. Peter Hoekje, I would probably not be where I am today. I'm having a blast everyday with my job. It's always something new and different," he said with heartfelt excitement.
