Student Explores Acoustic Levitation with a Healthcare Problem in Mind

By Amy Cowen on August 20, 2026 8:00 AM

This high school student used Arduino for the first time to explore ultrasonic levitation for the regional science fair.

Student's experiment - ultrasonic levitation

The Physics of Standing Waves and Acoustic Levitation

As a 9th-grade student at Westminster High School in CA, Alice participated in the Orange County Science and Engineering Fair (OCSEF) with a project exploring acoustic levitation as a potential approach to reducing pathogens in medical settings.

We talked with Alice about the inspiration behind the project.

Could Ultrasonic Levitation Be Useful in Medical Settings?

What sparked your interest in doing the Ultrasonic Levitation project?

"In my AP Environmental Science class, I had read about certain pathogens developing resistance to chemical disinfectants due to selective pressure in healthcare settings. This resistance makes traditional sanitization less effective, leading to an increased risk of contamination and healthcare-associated infections."

How did this lead you to ultrasonic levitation?

"I figured that, instead of trying to figure out how to constantly kill these multidrug-resistant pathogens on physical surfaces, maybe we could try eliminating the direct surfaces of contact (fomites) with acoustic levitation. If the specimen is suspended entirely by sound waves at acoustic pressure nodes, the pathogens shouldn't be able to reach it at all.

I read that acoustic levitation can be used in pharmaceutical compounding for mixing highly sensitive, sterile liquids or powders, as well as moving blood or tissue samples through diagnostic machines without letting them touch the walls of the machine, preventing cross-contamination between different patients' samples. For this to be possible, you'd need stable levitation, which is what I was experimenting with in my project."

Was this an area of personal interest before the environmental science class connected this issue to healthcare? If so, why?

"I first became interested in how sound waves interact with things when I played my guitar at the beach and noticed that it was able to move little sand particles. Also, my portable speaker bounces water droplets when I bring it into the shower. I did a bit of research and came across the concept of acoustic levitation, which sounded really cool to me!

I had been wanting to do a project in the Astronomy/Physics category, so I decided to give it a try."

How did the project go? What did you learn or discover?

"The acoustic levitator was quite fun to build, as it was a totally new experience for me. I learned how to create and wire a circuit using a breadboard and an Arduino, how to code in the Arduino IDE, and how to use an oscilloscope."

You used LEGO to build a frame for your device?

"Once I got the ultrasonic transducers to work, I was still having trouble with achieving stable acoustic levitation. I noticed that the initial system (with the transducers held by my shaky hands) was sensitive to sudden movements, had inconsistent alignment and transducer distance, and was overall subject to lots of experimental variance. So, I decided to build a solution for this, and the only materials I had on hand were LEGOs.

I utilized the bricks I had to design and build a vertical LEGO stand to stabilize the transducers at a fixed distance from each other. I built stands with distances from 1 to 3 cm. I was then able to test to see which frequencies were able to uphold the styrofoam beads at each distance."

Student's lego stand for ultrasonic levitation project

Above: Alice used LEGO to build stands for testing her ultrasonic levitation device at varying distances.

What was the most rewarding or memorable part of the project?

"Finally seeing my acoustic levitator work and getting the styrofoam beads to float was the most satisfying part, especially when I was starting to lose hope."

What was the most challenging part of the project?

"Learning new technical skills was the most challenging part of the project for me. It was confusing at times as I tried to figure out how everything worked."

Was this your first time working with Arduino?

"Yes, this was my first time working with Arduino. I had no prior experience or even exposure to Arduino before this, so it was all new to me! I used the Science Buddies Arduino video tutorials, along with some mentorship from the computer science teacher at my high school."

Is there anything else you would like to share about your project?

"I learned that I found coding and building a structural support system more fun than working with the electrical aspects of the project, which might be a sign that I enjoy mechanical and software engineering more than electrical engineering; nonetheless, completing this project was a good new experience for me!"

Are you considering a future in STEM?

"I'm definitely interested in pursuing a STEM career. Currently, I am interested in astronomy/astrophysics, though I haven't had much experience with it besides stargazing at home with my telescope. I just know that looking up into the night sky brings me pure joy.

I've also explored many other STEM career options this year, and found that I'm quite interested in engineering! I'm not exactly sure which field of engineering, so I'm continuing to explore, keep my mind open, and see what I enjoy doing."

"I had no prior experience or even exposure to Arduino before this, so it was all new to me!"
Alice, ninth-grade student

This was Alice's second year doing a project for OCSEF. Last year, she won second place in her category with a project exploring the effects of magnetic fields on radish plant growth.

Do Your Own Acoustic Levitation Project

Students inspired by Alice's story can do their own experiment using the following projects:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcMT-MGv2cw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXqoGwIPiK8

Get Started with Microcontrollers

For students doing projects that incorporate a microcontroller, the following self-paced video tutorials walk students through getting started with Arduino and micro:bit.

These tutorials work with the Arduino Electronics and micro:bit kits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd04o5yqSAU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItcTxWW3c5Q

Thank you to Alice for sharing this story with Science Buddies. If you have a story about a Science Buddies project or about how Science Buddies makes a difference in your classroom or program, reach out to us at [email protected].