Student Spotlight:
Cole Wilson

What makes Washington State University’s Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture stand out from the crowd for those looking to get a degree?

We ask computer science major Cole Wilson for his thoughts on what makes WSU such a special place.

What made you decide to attend WSU?

I decided to attend WSU because of the scholarships I received, and also because of the community here!

I visited spring of my senior year in high school, and loved the campus, atmosphere, and how willing everyone was to help. I was very intrigued by WSU’s student organizations and clubs as well! I chose computer science because I’ve loved working with computers and code for a really long time. Specifically, I’m really interested in both robotics and cybersecurity, and I knew that WSU’s CS major could help me learn about both.

What has been your favorite class or program that you have been involved with at WSU?

The beginning C/C++ computer science classes (121 and 122) taught by Andy O’Fallon are fantastic, and he does a great job of introducing code to freshman. Additionally, the Honors College is a great way to get involved in smaller class sizes and meet people from other majors. I highly recommend it.

Please share how scholarships or financial aid has impacted you as a student.

Scholarships and financial aid has had an incredible impact on my family and I. I would not be able to normally afford college on my own, but through the generosity of WSU and external donors I am able to attend. By receiving scholarships like the National Merit Award, I can focus on school and extracurricular activities without additional financial burden. I am incredibly grateful for all the financial aid and assistance my family has received from WSU and VCEA.

What clubs are you involved in on campus?

I am involved in several clubs on campus! I am president of Palouse RoboSub, sysadmin/officer of Cybersecurity Group, and a programmer for Wazzu Racing.

Last year, I was one of several freshman that helped restart RoboSub after a period of inactivity during Covid. This year, RoboSub has grown from 5 active members to roughly 35!

RoboSub is an underwater robotics competition where international teams compete in Irvine, CA every July. The made-from-scratch robots must run autonomously for 15 minutes: shooting torpedoes, doing flips, and picking and placing objects in an Olympic sized swimming pool. We’ve raised thousands of dollars through sponsorships and fundraising, and are currently manufacturing our submarine “Guppy” for summer. Through this club I’ve grown my robotics skills, and also learned a lot about leadership and team management.

As an officer of Cybersecurity Group, I help run weekly lessons on cybersecurity topics and manage the club’s server infrastructure. I also regularly compete in cybersecurity competitions through the club!

This October, I placed 21st in the nation out of over 7,800 participants in the National Cyber League individual game. This is a new record for me, and I am excited to see what else I can learn! The team portion of the competition is coming up soon, and the club is looking forward to a fantastic showing there as well. Participating in these competitions is great for professional development, as they are nationally recognized and can help provide metrics on applicants for internships and jobs.

Finally, I’m also involved in Wazzu Racing: the Formula SAE team on campus. On the team, I work in the Data Acquisition section as a programmer. I help develop datalogging software for the car, and also write the code that displays numbers and lights on the dashboard.

Last summer at the Michigan International Speedway FSAE competition, the team placed better than ever before, and Data Acquisition recieved a nearly perfect score! This year, I’m working to develop live data telemetry for the car using LoRa radio. I really like working on this team, because it mostly involves working with mechanical engineering majors. I appreciate the opportunity to work with other majors outside of EECS, and I think this prepares me for a similar job in industry.

Have you participated in any research projects related to your field of study?

I am involved as an undergraduate research fellow at Dr. Hosseinzadeh’s Safe and Intelligent Autonomous Systems Laboratory. In it, I am researching adaptive bitrate video streaming algorithms to promote QoS across streaming platforms! This is a fantastic opportunity for me to get involved in academic research, and I’m learning a lot about video streaming and ML.

Have you participated in any internships?

Last summer (after my freshman year), I was down at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a space robotics intern. During the internship, I helped develop simulations of in-space servicing for the upcoming Habitable Worlds Observatory mission (HWO). Using tools such as NVIDIA Omniverse and Isaac Sim, I learned a lot about robotic simulation. Additionally, I got hands on experience with physical robots and manipulators, and testbed construction.

To end the amazing summer, NASA flew me out to Washington DC where I was able to attend the 2025 HWO Symposium and meet NASA leadership and many aerospace industry professionals. On the same trip, I was also able to present my work at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland! The internship at JPL was immensely rewarding and offered a great taste of the world of professional robotics.

What do you want to do with your degree after you graduate?

I hope to get a job working with either robotics or cybersecurity and reverse engineering. I’ve been fascinated by robots my entire life, and I love how they sit at the intersection of mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering. On the other hand, I also really enjoy reverse engineering and participating in cybersecurity competitions! No matter what I do, I know it will involve computer science and engineering in a major way.