By Flynn Espe

In this third year as a Cougar, Eric Mayo-Gutierrez can already say that Washington State University has taken him places. For starters, he’s been a student at three different WSU campuses, spanning both sides of the Evergreen State.

But that’s just the beginning for this first-generation mechanical engineering major from Moses Lake, Washington, who now has his sights set on a scholarship-funded trip later this summer to Tokyo, Japan. That’s where he plans to take part in an engineering internship through the Council on International Educational Exchange’s Summer Global Internship program.

To make the trip possible, Mayo-Gutierrez applied to and recently received the Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship, a federal program that helps fund educational travel experiences for undergraduate students facing financial hardship.

“I’m a recipient of the Pell Grant, so thankfully I had the opportunity to receive this,” Mayo-Gutierrez says. “It helps students be able to explore opportunities that they might not have been able to due to financial circumstances.”

The Gilman scholarship program has helped dozens of WSU students to work and study overseas as they take part in all manner of travel experiences — learning about food and culture in Spain and Portugal, researching sustainability in Finland, and studying large predators in Tanzania, to name a few. In 2025, there were 14 WSU students who received a Gilman scholarship, including one from WSU Tri-Cities.

Although Mayo-Gutierrez has yet to be matched with an employer for his overseas internship, he looks forward to seeing and experiencing all that Tokyo has to offer when he gets there this summer.

“Not a lot of students have this opportunity,” Mayo-Guiterrez says. “I’m just thankful.”

Mayo-Gutierrez began his bachelor’s degree studies at WSU Vancouver in the fall of 2023 before transferring to WSU Pullman the next semester. He then made one final move, beginning his sophomore year at WSU Tri-Cities, where he’s since taken part in several extracurricular jobs as a peer mentor, biology and chemistry lab prep assistant, undergraduate research assistant, and mechanical and electrical engineering intern at Grant County P.U.D. He previously earned his associate degree and welding certificate from Big Bend Community College.

He says his long-term career goal is to become a mechanical or robotics engineer working on biomedical devices — bonus points if he can live and work internationally. Through engineering innovation, he says, he hopes to advance new technologies and solutions that will increase access and lower costs for patients.

For current students interested in applying for a Gilman scholarship, WSU will be hosting a Gilman Scholarship Workshop Series on Zoom this February.