Cheryl Tran

Cheryl’s long-term goal, as an educator, is to teach material in a way students will better understand and retain; as an advisor, to guide students toward resources and information that will empower them to develop a solid academic plan.

In her capacity as an educator, Cheryl has taught MAE 214 Solid Mechanics and MAE 316 Strength of Mechanical Components. In both courses, Cheryl developed a teaching approach of lectures and supplements to break up material into smaller parts and describe subtle concepts in more detail.  In MAE 214, Cheryl focuses on methodologies for different types of problems, and in MAE 316 she places a strong emphasis on fundamentals of finite element and matrix methods. Cheryl says her greatest satisfaction arises when she sees her students “get it.”

In recent years, Cheryl’s duties as an undergraduate advisor have commanded the majority of her time. Cheryl  commits a great deal of time to meeting with students and responding to emails. During COVID, Cheryl and her fellow MAE advisors developed an online pre-registration portal using Moodle that has enabled a small advising team to manage a large volume of student advisees.  The portal provides a detailed walk-through of the BSAE and BSME curricula, updates students on current and new policies, provides general academic information, and prompts students to submit an academic plan of work for review. Cheryl is also involved in MAE curricula development, course scheduling, graduation planning, and various other aspects of departmental administration. Cheryl serves on the College of Engineering coordinators of advising, course and curricula and scholarship committees.

Outside of work Cheryl enjoys cooking, reading, games and spending time with family and friends.