Peter Popolo, PhD
Product Manager, KayPENTAX

My experience working at the National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS) in Denver as an Engineer/Lab Technician and my close association with Dr. Ingo Titze were primary motivators for pursuing a Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Science. I already had BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering, specializing in speech processing in telecommunications, before working for the NCVS, and I was also a classically trained tenor. When I found that these disciplines intersected in the field of vocology, I wanted to learn as much as I could to further my career in voice and speech research.

Iowa was an obvious choice for doctoral study in vocology, since Dr. Titze was already my mentor and I was interested in continuing that mentorship in the form of graduate study. Also, UI was among only a few programs with a very strong non-clinical, research oriented track in Speech Science that welcomed students from non-speech pathology backgrounds. Finally, the Department's impressive reputation as consistently being among the top U.S. programs in Speech Pathology and Audiology, as well as being the home of a number of leading educators and researchers in the field, sealed my decision.

My interest was in instrumentation for voice analysis. I had experience in this area working at the NCVS, where I was part of the team that designed, built and constructed a device known as a voice dosimeter to measure voice use in the vocally demanding profession of teaching. One relevant course at UI was the Assistive Devices class taught by Dr. Richard Hurtig, in which students design prototype augmentative / assistive devices. Also relevant was work with Dr. Chris Turner in the development of new speech processing algorithms for cochlear implant technology. Being involved with his research broadened my interest beyond voice and speech to the equally fascinating area of hearing science.

Recently, I began a position with KayPENTAX, a division of Pentax Medical, as product manager. I oversee their line of laryngeal and esophageal imaging and physiologic data acquisition products. This job ties in incredibly well with my doctoral dissertation project: design and development of a laser projection device to obtain absolute measurements of laryngeal dimensions using videoendoscopy.