Discipline, resilience and leadership are all skills military student Tristan Koopman says he’s developed through the U.S. Army Reserves. They’re also skills that have served him well as a mechanical engineering student and Burnett Honors Scholar at UCF.
This fall, these strengths will continue to benefit the graduating Knight as he begins his professional career with Northop Grumman.
“I’ll be looking to get into the field of engineering and robotics,” he says.
Before coming to UCF, Koopman was inspired by his father — who completed three tours in the Army Reserves after 9/11 — to enlist and make an impact through service. By joining the military he also knew he’d have an affordable path to an education that would in turn serve him for the rest of this life.“If I could get an education while serving my country, that would be a dream job,” says Koopman, an Iowa native who came to UCF after being encouraged by family who live in Florida.
During his time at UCF, Koopman took on leadership roles in the engineering program and completed two internships at Northrop Grumman. He’s also led research at UCF Assistant Professor Joon Park’s Wearable Engineering Assistive Robotics Lab’s, where he’s developed a robotic tendon-driven hand exoskeleton for simulation purposes. A novelty of this development is the base framework for the glove, he says.
“For a hand exoskeleton meant to be used in a virtual environment, complete hand dexterity needs to be kept,” Koopman says. “Not only can range of motion and degrees of freedom not be interfered with, but they also need to be replicating to provide opposing force against the user. This meant that I spent a lot of time researching and analyzing the biomechanics of the human in all its amazing complexity.”
Koopman also took advantage of the Engineering Leadership and Innovation Institute, eli2, at UCF.
“That included mentoring project leaders, managing technical resources and fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration,” he says.
He also worked with UCF’s Florida Space Institute to showcase an engineering Mars rover project using 3D printing. The final prototype served as a platform for virtual simulation, rehabilitation and robotics research, Koopman says.
Koopman says he hopes to use his education and experiences at UCF to achieve his goals of earning a master’s in robotics and leading a company one day.
“I have the vision of one day starting my own robotics company developing exoskeletons, which is related to my research,” he says.
“I came to realize during my time in academia that I love the problem-solving aspect of engineering.”
Koopman credits a large part of his personal and professional growth to involvement with various clubs on campus, including First Step, a mentorship program for transfer students.
“I really appreciate all the support and resources that have been provided to me,” Koopman says.
