The present study experimentally investigated the effect of synthetic jet on the icing process of a water droplet on a cold surface. A synthetic jet actuator using a loudspeaker as the exciting source was designed and fabricated. The test plate surface was cooled down from room temperature to well below 0 degrees C by a semi-conductor cooler. The synthetic jet actuator started to operate when the temperature of the test plate reached a certain degree. The results show that the synthetic jet not only increased the temperatures of the test plate when droplet icing process began and ended, but also prolonged the freezing time of the water droplet. Besides, the synthetic jet resulted in the accretion of dense and irregular frost crystals on the outer surface of the ice bead. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.