Mechanical engineering student wants to improve consumer products
Engineer of the Month awardee will graduate next spring with bachelor’s and master’s degrees
Alex Kopf-Moore will graduate from UC in 2021. Photo/provided.
Alex Kopf-Moore, a University of Cincinnati mechanical engineering student, discovered his desired career path during his first cooperative education (co-op) experience at GE Appliances. Driven to major in mechanical engineering because of an interest in the automotive industry, Kopf-Moore’s first co-op job gave him a glimpse into something different.
As a co-op at GE Appliances, he had the opportunity to work on consumer products such as microwaves and washing machines, even working on projects that resulted in two patents for the company. It was this experience that helped Kopf-Moore set his sights on a future career as a design engineer of consumer products that impact people’s daily lives.
“Through the co-op program I was able to pinpoint exactly what I wanted my career path to be,” Kopf-Moore said.
In addition to his co-op experience at GE Appliance, Kopf-Moore also was an imaging engineer during a co-op at Kinetic Vision, a consulting firm, and as a quality engineer at Ethicon, a medical device company.
Kopf-Moore, a Louisville, Ky., native, was named the July Undergraduate Engineer of the Month by UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.
He expects to graduate with both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the spring of 2021 through the Accelerated Engineering Degree (ACCEND) program. Influenced by classes he took on thermodynamics and heat transfer, Kopf-Moore plans to focus on thermal fluids for his master’s specialization with a project in thermoelectric energy conversion.
“I came into UC planning to do ACCEND,” Kopf-Moore said. “I wanted to have that security of also having my master’s degree coming straight out of college, so I can have more confidence in the job search and a greater knowledge of the engineering field.”
Kopf-Moore will also earn a minor in Spanish. He entered UC with a lot of AP Spanish credit from high school and he was close to being fluent, but he wanted to expand his speaking skills. He grew up with his mother, who is originally from Chile, speaking to him in Spanish, but he would often reply to her in English. This desire to perfect his Spanish language skills also led Kopf-Moore to study abroad in Madrid, Spain, during the summer after his freshman year. He took language and culture courses and was able to explore various locations in Europe during what he calls one of his favorite UC experiences.
His involvement outside of the classroom and co-op have also helped shape Kopf-Moore’s breadth of engineering knowledge and his leadership skills. Kopf-Moore has been involved with Theta Tau engineering fraternity and he also joined Hyperloop UC, which focuses on creating innovative ground transportation. He helped launch and lead an offshoot of Hyperloop, called FlyUC, which was inspired by the international GoFly competition to create a personal flying vehicle. Although the FlyUC team ultimately realized they didn’t have enough funding and sponsorship to compete in GoFly, they decided to continue with the purpose of that contest but on a smaller scale.
With a love of the outdoors inspired by the UC Mountaineering club, Alex Kopf-Moore has gone on many trips, including 10 days in Patagonia in Chile. Photo/provided.
Featured image at top: Alex Kopf-Moore will earn two degrees when he graduates. Photo/provided.
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