Daniel Gochenaur

2021 Churchill Scholar

Hometown

Centerville, OH

Major

Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering

College

College of Engineering

 

Daniel Gochenaur embodies a strong sense of service from his upbringing in a military family that fuels his professional aspirations.  Dedicated to keeping warfighters alive and well, Daniel discovered a research topic in hypersonic flight that motivates him to solve big problems. 

 

Arriving at Purdue after his first summer internship at the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Daniel would go on to complete a second and even a third summer internship at ARFL in what he refers to as the team sport of engineering.  After proposing a project, which he met with success and then led him to author and present a paper at an international aerospace forum, Daniel met scientists from across academia, government, and industry.  Suddenly, he realized that he needed to gain experience across all three to understand hypersonic flight from multiple perspectives.

 

Next, he expanded his knowledge by pursuing research in Purdue’s System of Systems Laboratory, where he gained insight into his own skills for leading a research team in academia.  Rather than return to AFRL for a fourth summer, Daniel again chose to expand his perspective with an internship in industry at the Virtual Warfare Center of Boeing Phantom Works.

 

Revealing his strong sense of service before self, Daniel performed at the top of his class while enjoying the leadership opportunity found in teaching simple rocket science to children at Dayton Air Camp repeatedly in summer.

 

Wishing to expand his knowledge again and to grow with the viewpoints of those who have a different cultural perspective, Daniel pursued the Churchill Scholarship as the next step in his personal and professional development to become a leading voice in defense research.