When mechanical engineering major and mathematics minor Cooper Gould ’19 participated in the John V. Roach Honors College’s Cultural Routes study abroad program the summer after his first year, he fell in love with Switzerland. A Colorado native and self-proclaimed “huge mountain nerd,” he was enthralled by the world-famous Alps and the beautiful Swiss countryside.
At the end of his junior year, Gould received an invitation from Ron Pitcock, Ph.D., director of prestigious scholarships, to attend a seminar on the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. “Fulbright was never really on my radar because I always thought it was just the English Teaching Assistant track—which I think is phenomenal—but it didn’t really seem applicable to engineering,” he remembered. Gould decided to attend the seminar anyway and learned about TCU alumni who had conducted research during their Fulbright awards.
“The research opportunities really caught my eye,” he said. “Because Fulbright was something that could be extremely applicable to my career but could also provide the opportunity to be an ambassador for the U.S. and connect with a different culture.”
Remembering his Cultural Routes experience, Gould immediately focused on institutions in Switzerland. He connected with Professor François Avellan in the Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines and Professor Karen Mulleners in the Unsteady Flow Diagnostics Laboratory, both at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Through a separate application process, he also secured funding via the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships for Foreign Scholars and Artists.
Gould was only partially through his Fulbright year when the COVID-19 pandemic stunned the globe. “My parents wanted me to come home, and the U.S. government was also saying ‘Come back,’” he recalled.
Ultimately, it was his funding from the Swiss government that allowed him to complete his year abroad. When the Fulbright Program recalled all its scholars to the U.S., Gould was given permission to stay in Switzerland because of the additional award.
“From mid-March to mid-June, the university was shut down and my flat mates and I were completely remote, so I did all of my research from my apartment,” he remembered.
While the pandemic significantly changed his Fulbright experience, Gould admitted that it also came with a bit of a silver lining. “I didn’t do as many weekend excursions in Europe as I would have liked because I was unable to leave the country, but I was completely okay with that because I got to really dive into Switzerland and my new friends.”
At EPFL, Gould continued the research he started at TCU while completing his Honors thesis on the aerodynamics of airplane winglets, the upright flaps on an airplane’s wingtips.
“If you look at birds, they’re constantly slightly adjusting their wings mid-flight by changing the camber and shape,” he said. “That’s what this research is all about—bio-inspired design. We’re trying to optimize and learn what we can from nature because that’s where the best flyers are.”
To estimate the velocity measurements of different winglet designs, Gould’s lab used a process called particle image velocimetry, which utilizes specialized visualization particles that help make movement more visible to the naked eye and high-speed cameras to measure the direction and speed of movement around an object in the water.
Gould also worked with a Swiss machine shop to design and engineer specific parts for the lab experiments. “I had full autonomy right when I got there,” he said. “They told me ‘We need a machine or mechanism that can do this—go ahead and design it.’ That’s what every engineer wants—a clean slate to be able to do your design.”
Outside of his research work, Gould took advantage of his proximity to the Swiss Alps and spent many weekends hiking, skiing and exploring the mountains.
He recalls one solo weekend in particular, when he was in the small village of Saas-Fee and looking for his Airbnb after a long day on the slopes. “I’m in this completely unknown region where they speak Swiss-German, and I’m tired and carrying my skis when I knock on the door. This family invited me in, gave me homemade ice cream and we all stayed up playing Uno until 11 p.m.!”
The next morning, Gould enjoyed breakfast with the family and met up with them again later for lunch and a few runs on the slopes.
“That story really epitomizes the welcomeness of the Swiss, which is interesting because that’s not necessarily something I heard or expected.”
Gould also fondly recalls his experiences with the Westlake Church, an English-speaking Christian congregation he became involved with during his time in Switzerland. “It absolutely revolutionized my entire year,” he said. “Having a group to go to church with and have adventures with was really special.”
Gould is currently pursuing his master’s degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder and has a summer internship at Lockheed Martin Space, where he is designing a new class of military satellites. “I love space and deep space exploration, so I would love to design spacecraft to visit the outer planets,” he said.
In reflecting on his experience with Fulbright, Gould offers some advice: one thing that’s really important is to not be afraid to fail. “It’s important not to count the costs and not be afraid to dream big. Even if you fail, it’s not wasted time.”
He also acknowledges Fulbright’s impact on how he sees the world differently now, recalling a recent experience in grad school:
A student came up to introduce himself to me and his name was Naoki; He was from Japan and just getting to know the U.S. I looked at him and I saw me—the new student in a new country, not speaking the language, without a car, not knowing anyone... and I was like, ‘Holy cow! That was me less than a year ago.’ Having the Swiss take me in and embrace me—that's something that I want to do and it’s so important to have the ability to relate to others.
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