[1] In 1938, Ma published his first research paper, under the direction of Dr. Vern Oliver Knudsen, renowned UCLA acoustical physicist, "The distribution of the low frequency normal mode in a rectangular room", which was considered later as the benchmark for applied normal mode theory and room acoustics.

At Harvard, he involved in the research task of "The decay of sound in rectangular room" and published a series of papers on the topic.

[2][3][4][5] In his lifetime, Ma published some 30 papers on room acoustics based on normal mode theory, and around 150 including other topics, thereafter.

In 1943, Ma was elected as a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, the only Chinese national member of ASA at the time.

[10] These were the main missions of a ad hoc task force Ma headed, in order to prepare for the missile tests China was about to launch.