Victor Zappi

Victor Zappi is an Assistant Professor in the College of Arts, Media and Design at Northeastern University, with an affiliation in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. His research focuses on computational acoustics, digital musical instruments, speech synthesis, and virtual reality, blending computer science, electrical engineering, and musicology.

Education: PhD in Computer Science Engineering (Music Technology) from Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia/Università degli Studi di Genova (2012), B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electronic Engineering from Università degli Studi di Genova.

Research Interests: Music perception and cognition, articulatory vocal synthesis, immersive virtual musical interfaces, embedded hardware, and physical modeling. Notable projects include the Hyper Drumhead (winner of the Guthman Competition 2018) and the Bela platform for interactive audio applications.

Recognition: First prize in Guthman Musical Instrument Design Competition (2018), Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship (2015-2018), and Best Paper Award at the 2017 International Computer Music Conference.

Teaching: Courses include Introduction to Music Technology and Acoustics/Psychoacoustics. His work bridges technical innovation with artistic expression, emphasizing human-centric design and accessibility in music technology.