Bouman and Mahsa Asgarisabet, both graduate students at Michigan Technological University, recently won a Best of Show Award at SAE International's Noise and Vibration Conference and Exhibition 2015 for their acoustic research on carbon nanotube speakers. They work with Andrew Barnard, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Michigan Tech, to tease out the fundamental physics of these unusual loudspeakers.

While still a fledgling technology, the potential applications are nearly endless. Everything from de-icing helicopter blades to making lighter loudspeakers to doubling as a car speaker and heating filament for back windshield defrosters.

How carbon nanotubes make sound

The freestanding speaker itself is rather humble. In fact, it's a bit flimsy. A teflon base props up two copper rods, and what seems like a see-through black cloth stretches between them.

"A little wind gust across them, and they would just blow away," Barnard says. "But you could shake them as much as you want—since they have such low mass, there is virtually no inertia."