Genelec has named Najla Silmi and Nancy Rico-Mineros as the recipients of its 2026 scholarships, offered in partnership with the Audio Engineering Society Educational Foundation. Each scholarship provides a US$5,000 grant to support graduate study and research in audio engineering. The awards recognize work spanning assistive listening technology, audio education and accessibility.
Silmi, an incoming electrical and computer engineering student at the University of Rochester, received the Genelec Dr. Ilpo Martikainen Audio Visionary Scholarship. She is also working toward her New York State hearing aid dispenser license and plans to research the intersection of auditory neuroscience, digital signal processing and hearing aid design. Her long-term goal is to develop computational models of the auditory system that can inform hearing aid algorithms, particularly those designed to improve music quality.
“I want to contribute to both academia and industry by advancing hearing aid technology through perceptually informed engineering,” Silmi said. “By combining computational modeling, clinical insight and audio engineering expertise, I hope to shape the future of assistive listening devices and clinical training and improve access to meaningful auditory experiences.” Genelec established the scholarship in 2018 to honor its late founder, Dr. Ilpo Martikainen, who received an AES Fellowship Award for his contributions to loudspeaker development in 1993.
Rico-Mineros received the Genelec Mike Chafee Audio Pioneering Scholarship for the second consecutive year. A graduate student at Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, she is examining music technology curricula in higher education and how artificial intelligence could influence their development. Her research also addresses representation in audio education and efforts to make the field more accessible to people with disabilities.
“My place in audio lies within the power of education,” Rico-Mineros said. “I want to be able to educate the next generation of audio professionals.” Genelec established the scholarship to advance women in the audio industry and honor Michael Chafee, a longtime Genelec manufacturer’s representative and advocate for women in audio.
Both scholarships support U.S. graduate students who are AES members and seek to advance audio through technological development and innovation. The Mike Chafee scholarship is awarded specifically to female students.
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