Education

Story by Heidi Whetmore

As Spencerville Adventist Academy (SAA) sophomore Autumn Uhrig watched a YouTube video one morning, something piqued her interest. Millions of people who can’t speak rely on text-to-speech devices to communicate. Most devices have the same vocal sound for all users, regardless of age or gender. Uhrig learned of VocaliD, which, according to their website, is “the human voicebank of the world.”

VocaliD records human voices, mixes them with sounds a non-speaking person can make and blends them to make a unique humanized voice in which the machine talks for them. Uhrig wanted to do her part in helping someone find their voice. She visited the website, recorded a couple of sentences and waited to see if there was anyone her age who needed assistance. Months later she received an email that a young girl, Tesa, was a good match for her voice. Uhrig now needed to record 3,488 sentences to get the job done.

Story by WAU Communication staff

The Washington Adventist University (WAU) Chapter of Enactus launched a new project, “First Step, a Women Empowerment Project,” on Wednesday, December 7 at a 9 a.m. meeting, held at the Bedford Station Apartments, 1400 University Blvd., E., Hyattsville, Maryland.

The project will seek sustainable work and career opportunities for women and families in the Langley Park area. The goal of the project is to empower women by providing them with the skills and support needed to find a job and enter the workforce.

Story by WAU Communication Staff

An Honors College will be launched next year at Washington Adventist University (WAU) to further enhance its academic offerings and move the university another step closer to achieving the Vision 2020 – Growing with Excellence plan that seeks to attain excellence at all levels of the institution. This will be the first Honors College in the Seventh-day Adventist system of higher education.