Golf anyone? My name is Art Chou and I am the president of my own company, chou.golf.design/labs, which I started in 1996. I have a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Materials Engineering from Drexel. After graduate school I worked at a small engineering firm that dealt with ballistic missiles. Then from 1989 to 1996 I worked for Titleist as a golf club engineer.

I started playing golf in college and became interested in the technical thinking behind the aerodynamics of golf - how does the golf ball fly, the projectories of the ball after it is hit, and the dispersion that is created by the projectory. There is also the consideration of the ball's velocity, the spin rate of the ball, and the launch angle of the ball. Sometimes the side spin changes the distance that the ball is able to go. Optimizing those launch conditions in order to get a few more yards is the name of the game in golf. We still cannot measure the projectory of the ball but we can measure the launch conditions. Today, we are describing the game of golf by fitting the equipment of individual players with the best clubs for them to make the optimum distance when they hit the golf ball.

I was born and raised in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. I grew up playing tennis. I have two older and one younger brother. My oldest brother is a psychologist, my second brother is a businessman and my younger brother is in medical school. My dad was a mechanical engineering professor at Drexel with an aeronautical background. While I was growing up my dad took us everywhere to participate in sports - tennis, skiing, running.

During my first year of college I had a professor who was gregarious and well rounded. I was thinking of going into the arts and sciences but I saw with this professor that there are all types of engineers - not only 1 or 2 dimensional ones. Then there was my advisor for my Senior design project helping me to manage the project technically. He built up my confidence. While in college I worked part-time for the school operated printing press shop. We printed up the other school agencies' posters and flyers.

After college I worked for my dad at his engineering firm studying ballistic missiles and their impact with computer modeling. I did not think that I would end up working in the golf industry. I thought that I would be an engineer because I did well in math and science. While in college I had a girlfriend (who is now my wife) who encouraged me to consider a career in sports. While I was working for my dad's engineering company I began tinkering in my garage making golf clubs.

Two years before I went on to work for Titleist Sporting Goods I sent out letters of inquiry but nothing came of it. Then a friend of mine saw an ad on the back of a Mechanical Engineering Magazine at an ASME Computer Faire. Titleist was looking for a Golf Club Engineer. I applied and was hired.

When I told my dad that I wanted to leave his engineering firm to work with golf he was puzzled. He was into tennis and running and he didn't understand. Today he is business partners with me along with my brother. My dad helps me work with computer modeling in relationship to a golf ball's impact. This is similar to what I did for him at his engineering company in studying the impact of ballistic missiles.

In school I was in the middle of the pack. I didn't work hard in my freshman and sophomore years of college. I started dating a great girl in my sophomore year and we spent a lot of time together. So during my junior and senior years I had to work harder. My grade point average in college was about a 3.2. Looking back now, I would have taken my schooling more seriously, and along with my regular curriculum taken elective classes such as oceanography. While at the University of Pennsylvania I went to the Placement Office and utilized their representation of industries. With my employment with my dad's firm we did high level technical work. We did projects for defense sub-contracts for military missile tanks, armor and anti-armor anti tank shells. This wasn't my personal choice of what I wanted to work on, so when the job opportunity at Titleist came along I jumped at it.

At Titleist I worked in teams. And now with my own consulting company I work on my own, but I do interface with clients. I need to depend upon the client's input. To work in the golfing industry you need a sound understanding of basic physics and the conservation of energy. Golf is a consumer industry so you need to put yourself in the shoes of the consumer to see things from their perspective. I love to get away and play golf after work. In fact, I think about golf almost 24 hours a day. My career is very rewarding to me and I feel that I am really contributing to people's happiness. Typically, I travel quite a bit and am dealing with different clients in other cities. I spend about a third of my time traveling.

On a typical day I work on 3 different projects. Today my work includes writing for the "Golf Digest Magazine". Right now I am writing an article for them on golf equipment. I am also doing some research on the angle of presentation for the article along with lining up photographs for the piece. I just came back from Taiwan where I am having molds for golf clubs being cast that I have designed. We are coming up with a new design and specifications. Along with my dad, I am also doing computer modeling to study what happens when the club hits the ball in relationship to the face, weight and distribution. We are also looking at the launch and spin rates. All of my contracts are for one or two years. You don't know for sure if you will have continuous contracts. But if you do a good job they should be there.

When I was in high school I set goals for myself. I always wanted to have my own business - to be an entrepreneur before I turned 30. I feel like I am a "Jack of all trades and master of none". Someday, on a professional level I would like to create the whole environment to sell my own brand of golf equipment. On a personal level, my wife and I would like to start a family. Having a happy and healthy family is very important to me. I left Titleist for personal reasons to be closer to my family. Working in the golfing industry you find wonderful people who are happy because they enjoy what they do.

I am married and my wife helps me in my business. She is an accountant and does all the book keeping for the business. When I am not working I play golf and enjoy going out to dinner and to the movies with my wife. I like to travel and we combine pleasure with business on trips. I still love tennis and ski whenever I can. We have two cats. I love Chinese food, my favorite color is blue, and I love jazz music.

So I say - encourage kids to consider what they like to do instead of looking into the traditional type of jobs. Ask yourself, what makes you really happy? What problems do you enjoy looking at even if you are not being paid to do it? There is a whole world out there and so do not limit yourself.

Questions for Art:

What is your educational background?
I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Materials Engineering from Drexel.