Marina Bosi
Encyclopedia
Marina Bosi is a Consulting Professor at Stanford University
's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA); one of the developers of MPEG, Dolby Digital
, and DTS audio coders; a noted educator and co-author of a leading textbook on digital audio coding technology http://www.springer.com/engineering/signals/book/978-1-4020-7357-1; and an early pioneer and role model for women engineers in the audio engineering field.
, a small town in northern Italy, but was raised in Cesenatico, a fishing village outside Ravenna on the Adriatic Sea. She studied flute at Conservatory of Music in Florence and, after graduating, taught flute at the Conservatory of Music in Venice.
She later went back to school at the University of Florence
where she graduated with a doctorate in Physics. Her dissertation (developed and implemented at IRCAM
in Paris) was “Design of a High-Speed Computer System for the Processing of Musical Sound".
Following graduation she came to the United States to be a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) working with John Chowning
to develop tools allowing a musician to use multiple speakers to control the perceived location of sound sources http://ccrma.stanford.edu/STANM/stanms/stanm66/stanm66.pdf.
where she developed and implemented several audio digital signal processing techniques (analysis/resynthesis, pitch detection, dynamic range control, data compression) for the award-winning Pro Tools
audio platform. Her audio coding work brought her to the attention of Louis Fielder at Dolby who in 1991 brought her into their R&D department as a project engineer where she designed and implemented a variety of audio digital signal processing algorithms for Dolby's low bit-rate audio coding tools (including AC-2 and AC-3 "Dolby Digital
").
The first woman engineer at Dolby and one of very few women audio engineers at the time, she became extremely well known in the industry through her work at Dolby and through her activities for the Audio Engineering Society
where she has been a Member since 1990, held various Officer roles from 1997–2002, and was made a Fellow of the Society in 2003 http://www.aes.org/historical/store/oralhistory/?code=OHP-038-DVD.
In the late 1990s, Marina's professional career turned from developing proprietary audio coding tools to participating in the creation of audio coding standards (and later to the development of video and other digital media standards). She became Dolby's representative to the MPEG audio standards committee and served as the Editor of the committee that developed the "Advanced Audio Coding
" (AAC) standard that was later brought to mainstream attention by its use in the Apple iPod
. In 1997 she joined DTS as their Vice-President of "Technology, Standards, and Strategies" where she helped get DTS's audio coding format included in the DVD-Audio standard and where she represented DTS in a variety of national and international standardization committees including ANSI, MPEG, DVD Forum, and SDMI. In 2001 she joined MPEG LA
as their Chief Technology Officer where she focused on creating and licensing "patent pool
s" for technology standards to ease the adoption barriers for new users. She left MPEG LA in 2007 although she has remained active in the industry as a founding Board member of the Digital Media Project and through her activities at CCRMA.
She also carries out research with graduate students in the Electrical Engineering and Music departments on a wide range of areas related to audio and video coding.
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA); one of the developers of MPEG, Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
, and DTS audio coders; a noted educator and co-author of a leading textbook on digital audio coding technology http://www.springer.com/engineering/signals/book/978-1-4020-7357-1; and an early pioneer and role model for women engineers in the audio engineering field.
Early years
Marina Bosi was born in Fiorenzuola d'ArdaFiorenzuola d'Arda
Fiorenzuola d'Arda is a city and comune in Italy in the province of Piacenza, of the Emilia-Romagna region. Its name derives from Florentia . The "d'Arda" portion refers to the River Arda which flows from the Apennines into the valley where Fiorenzuola is situated...
, a small town in northern Italy, but was raised in Cesenatico, a fishing village outside Ravenna on the Adriatic Sea. She studied flute at Conservatory of Music in Florence and, after graduating, taught flute at the Conservatory of Music in Venice.
She later went back to school at the University of Florence
University of Florence
The University of Florence is a higher study institute in Florence, central Italy. One of the largest and oldest universities in the country, it consists of 12 faculties...
where she graduated with a doctorate in Physics. Her dissertation (developed and implemented at IRCAM
IRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
in Paris) was “Design of a High-Speed Computer System for the Processing of Musical Sound".
Following graduation she came to the United States to be a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) working with John Chowning
John Chowning
John M. Chowning is an American composer, musician, inventor, and professor best known for his work at Stanford University and his invention of FM synthesis while there.-Contribution:...
to develop tools allowing a musician to use multiple speakers to control the perceived location of sound sources http://ccrma.stanford.edu/STANM/stanms/stanm66/stanm66.pdf.
Career in Industry
In 1988, Marina joined DigidesignDigidesign
Avid Audio is an American digital audio technology company. It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks. The company began as a project to raise money for the founders' band, selling EPROM chips for drum machines. It is a subsidiary of Avid Technology, and during 2010 the Digidesign...
where she developed and implemented several audio digital signal processing techniques (analysis/resynthesis, pitch detection, dynamic range control, data compression) for the award-winning Pro Tools
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
audio platform. Her audio coding work brought her to the attention of Louis Fielder at Dolby who in 1991 brought her into their R&D department as a project engineer where she designed and implemented a variety of audio digital signal processing algorithms for Dolby's low bit-rate audio coding tools (including AC-2 and AC-3 "Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
").
The first woman engineer at Dolby and one of very few women audio engineers at the time, she became extremely well known in the industry through her work at Dolby and through her activities for the Audio Engineering Society
Audio Engineering Society
Established in 1948, the Audio Engineering Society draws its membership from amongst engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or products for audio, and persons working...
where she has been a Member since 1990, held various Officer roles from 1997–2002, and was made a Fellow of the Society in 2003 http://www.aes.org/historical/store/oralhistory/?code=OHP-038-DVD.
In the late 1990s, Marina's professional career turned from developing proprietary audio coding tools to participating in the creation of audio coding standards (and later to the development of video and other digital media standards). She became Dolby's representative to the MPEG audio standards committee and served as the Editor of the committee that developed the "Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
" (AAC) standard that was later brought to mainstream attention by its use in the Apple iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
. In 1997 she joined DTS as their Vice-President of "Technology, Standards, and Strategies" where she helped get DTS's audio coding format included in the DVD-Audio standard and where she represented DTS in a variety of national and international standardization committees including ANSI, MPEG, DVD Forum, and SDMI. In 2001 she joined MPEG LA
MPEG LA
MPEG LA, LLC, is a Denver-based firm that licenses patent pools covering essential patents requiredfor use of the MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Visual , IEEE 1394, VC-1, ATSC and AVC/H.264 standards...
as their Chief Technology Officer where she focused on creating and licensing "patent pool
Patent pool
In patent law, a patent pool is a consortium of at least two companies agreeing to cross-license patents relating to a particular technology. The creation of a patent pool can save patentees and licensees time and money, and, in case of blocking patents, it may also be the only reasonable method...
s" for technology standards to ease the adoption barriers for new users. She left MPEG LA in 2007 although she has remained active in the industry as a founding Board member of the Digital Media Project and through her activities at CCRMA.
Teaching and Research
Since coming to the United States, Marina has maintained her ties with CCRMA at Stanford University. Originally a Visiting Scholar, in 1997 she became a Consulting Professor of Music which she remains today. In the early 1990s, she developed Stanford's first course in digital audio coding http://ccrma.stanford.edu/courses/422/ that eventually led to the publication of a leading textbook in the area http://www.springer.com/engineering/signals/book/978-1-4020-7357-1. Between this course and summer workshops for industry professionals, Marina has taught audio coding to hundreds of researchers and professionals in the industry.She also carries out research with graduate students in the Electrical Engineering and Music departments on a wide range of areas related to audio and video coding.