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Rabbi Merle Singer has been a rock in the Boca Raton community for decades. But when the strength of his voice started to weaken because of Parkinson’s disease, Singer turned to another pillar of the community for help – FAU.

“(My voice) was my signature,” says Singer, who has challenged FAU students to invent a device that can counter the effects of Parkinson’s disease on the voice, such as low volume, muffled speech and fast speed of slurred words. The intended prototype should be small, unnoticeable, easy-to-use and rechargeable. “What my phone can do in delay time, I’m looking to do in real time,” he said referring to his phone’s capability to do some of those things.

As a professional public speaker, Singer said the loss of his voice to Parkinson’s left him feeling “isolated and hopelessly helpless. I can’t help myself,” he said, which is why he turned to FAU. “I’m looking for something to give me my voice back.”

Singer’s connection to FAU began in 1978 when he became an adjunct professor teaching Jewish history courses. His many years of service to FAU and the greater community have been recognized by a President's Distinguished Service Medallion, an honorary doctorate and the key to the city of Boca Raton. Throughout the decades, he has watched with pride as the university blossomed into the powerhouse it is today.

Singer was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a nervous system disorder, in 2002. There is no known cure. “I’m fighting it every which way I can,” he said. “My issues are universal issues” among those living with Parkinson’s. A device developed to help him has the potential to make a difference for the more than seven million people worldwide who have Parkinson’s disease.

Singer frequently visits the Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing on the Boca Raton campus. The center offers specialized services grounded in caring science for people living with Parkinson’s disease. This connection led him to Daniel Flynn, Ph.D., vice president for research, and Hanqi Zhuang, Ph.D., of the College of Engineering, whose students are now working on creating ways to help remedy Singer’s declining vocal abilities. The prototypes they produce will be part of this year’s design showcase, a culminating project for seniors. Some of the students are part of FAU Wave, an innovative program that brings students together to work on solutions to real-world problems. 

“In engineering design, we solve problems,” Zhuang said. “In this case, it is really linked to people, people who have a disease and want to find solutions.”

The students are tackling the challenge from two angles, he said. The first is to create a functional adaptation for existing technology, such as the iPhone. The other is to create a prototype, something designed from scratch that is able to record the voice and play it back cleanly with amplified volume, less vibration and more steadiness.

“This is a step in that direction, and I hope we can provide solutions for this problem,” Zhuang said. “This is a very meaningful part of modern technology and future design."