Team

Our team consists of

Faculty

Headshot of Pasquale Bottalico

Pasquale Bottalico, PhD

Assistant Professor

Pasquale Bottalico earned his bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Univeristà Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria (Italy), while simultaneously pursuing a degree in Opera Singing at the F. Cilea Music Academy of Reggio Calabria (Italy). In 2005, he moved to Turin where he earned his master’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Politecnico di Torino (Italy). For his master’s thesis, Dr. Bottalico combined his studies of engineering and music to explore musician perceptions of acoustics and the correlation with objective index from ISO 3382.

Dr. Bottalico earned his Ph.D. in Metrology, studying acoustics with particular attention to the uncertainty of measurements and statistical analysis of data. For his dissertation, he investigated classroom acoustics of primary schools, and its relationship with safety, examining the students and the teachers separately. Specifically, he: 1) described the speech intelligibility in the classroom, which affects students’ learning; and 2) examined how the acoustical features of a classroom can influence vocal performances. Dr. Bottalico is particularly interested in the professional voice user and singer techniques, as well as the definition and the quantification of the vocal load. Other fields he is interested in are Speech Intelligibility, Room Acoustics, and Musical Acoustics. Bottalico is also a professional chorister, performing under such prestigious directors as Rafael Frühbeck De Burgos, Yuri Ahronovitch, Jeffrey Tate, Juanio Mena, Gianandrea Noseda, Ottavio Dantone, Wayne Marshall, Helmuth Rilling, Christopher Hogwood, Robert King, and Ivor Bolton.

Graduate Students

Headshot of Silvia Murgia

Silvia Murgia

PhD Student

Silvia is a PhD student in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Architecture. During the years of her Master she got passionate about Acoustics, working on a project aimed at improving learning abilities of primary school children. Her master thesis was focused on studying the relationship between the perception of well-being and noise in relations to classroom acoustics in first grade children. Her current research investigates factors influencing speech intelligibility in primary school including acoustic parameters, vocal disorders and, now, the use of masks.

Headshot of Charles Nudelman

Charles Nudelman

PhD Student

Charlie is a PhD Student in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his M.S. (2021) in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) with a Specialization in Voice Disorders from the MGH Institute for Health Professions and his B.S. (2019) in Speech and Hearing Science, with a minor in Spanish from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a certified SLP with voice-specialized clincial training from the Lakeshore Professional Voice Center. His master thesis validated an acoustic voice measure from the daily voice use data of over 50 patients with voice disorders. His current research focuses on developing diagnostic and treatment tools related to voice biofeedback, voice acoustics/vocal status ratings, and room acoustics to improve health outcomes and patient quality of life.

Headshot of Kristen Moore

Kristen Moore

AuD Student

Kristen is currently a fourth year AuD student in the Speech and Hearing Science department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her Bachelor of Science from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. While at Purdue, she minored in Human Development and Family Studies and served as an HDFS student mentor. She was also a member of the Purdue University cheerleading team. Her research interests include room acoustics occupational noise exposure.

Headshot of Rachel Lowrance

Rachel Lawrence

AuD Student

Rachel is a second year AuD student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has a bachelor’s degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences with a concentration in Audiology and a minor in Music from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her interests include: music perception in correlation to hearing loss, music and hearing devices, and pediatric audiology.

Taylor Mekus

AuD Student

Abel Plachno

AuD Student

Xiyu Li

AuD Student

Yoonjee Sim

AuD Student

Undergraduates

Mia Mangialardi

Jenna Quafisheh

Cori Penrod

2021-2022 AHS Spark Program

Jacob Katsifarakis

2022-2023 AHS Spark Program

Lab Alumni

Kelly Kost
Emilie Palacios
Alison Perlman
Lauren Putira
Angelica Wozniak

Tomás Sierra
Carolyn Legare
Rachael Piper
Brianna Legner
Mia Webster
Ella Marzolf
Aamina-Nikole Adebayo
Lydia Fleming
Alyse Ruda

Research Collaborators

Supraja Anand, PhD, Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of South Florida
Arianna Astolfi, PhD, Dipartimento Energia, Politecnico di Torino
Lady Catherine Cantor-Cutiva, PhD, Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Universidad Manuela Beltrán
Juliana Codino, PhDC-CCC-SLP, Lakeshore Professional Voice Center, Detroit, Michigan
Eric Hunter, PhD, Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University
Keiko Ishikawa, PhD, Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Kentucky
Maria Cristina Jackson Menaldi, PhD, Wayne State University
Karen Kirk, PhD, Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois
Giuseppina Puglisi, PhD, Dipartimento Energia, Politecnico di Torino
Yvonne Redman, Associate Professor, School of Music, University of Illinois
Adam Rubin, MD, Lakeshore Professional Voice Center, Detroit, Michigan
Mary Flaherty, PhD, Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois
Justin Aronoff, PhD, Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois
Dario D’Orazio, PhD, Department of Industrial Engineering, Universita Di Bologna
Silvia Capobianco, Doctorate Student, University of Pisa