Campus Currents

Cole Twice Blessed with Fulbright Grant

It might seem remarkable to be awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant once in your life, but twice? That would make you Bryce E. Cole, associate professor of engineering. He was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant for travel to Germany, where he will teach and conduct research at the University for Applied Arts and Sciences at Hildesheim during the 2004-05 academic year. He was also the recipient of a student Fulbright grant as a doctoral candidate and spent a year studying in Brunswick, Germany.

Cole will spend six months in Europe teaching fluid mechanics and groundwater hydrology and will also collaborate on the implementation of a computer simulation of flood control measures. The computer simulation will be a game that shows how changes in land use, such as putting in dams or rivers, can change flood damage and make the cost of a flood increase or decrease. He believes it is important to get kids involved in seeing how things work even when there isn’t a major event occurring, such as the recent tsunami in Southeast Asia, and this game will make that possible.

“I’m a bit excited about the project,” says Cole, “Since my German colleague and I will be traveling to Russia to work on a collaboration with a technical university in Rostov on Don. I’m afraid my Russian is limited to what I have read in the Eloise Goes to Moscow book I read to my kids, though. I’m looking forward to reminding myself how difficult it is to be productive in a different language.”

Cole is one of approximately 800 American faculty and professionals who will travel abroad to 140 countries for the 2004-05 academic year through the Fulbright Scholar Program. Recipients of Fulbright Scholar awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and demonstration of extraordinary leadership potential in their field.

Cole earned a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of science in engineering from WWC in 1987, a master of science in civil engineering from the University of Massachusetts in 1989, and a doctoral degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1996.

Cole has taught in the Edward F. Cross School of Engineering since 1995. Cole teaches civil engineering classes at the school, which enrolls approximately 200 students in its civil, computer, electrical, mechanical, and bioengineering programs.

The research Cole conducts at WWC examines using temperature to relate how groundwater and surface water interact, usually involving how streams lose or gain water through groundwater. He has also conducted research on ways to increase student comprehension and interest, which lead to his computer simulation project.

The Fulbright Program’s purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries. Over 58 years, more than 250,000 American and foreign university students, k-12 teachers, and university faculty and professionals have participated in one of the Fulbright exchange programs. W

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