Is there anything that Cherlyn Chan can not do? Upon meeting Cherlyn formally, I was used to seeing her posts about hiking or travel locations in our student group chat. Little did I know how great and accomplished she is. Cherlyn is an aerospace engineering Master’s student at Georgia Tech Lorraine who will be graduating this December. She received her undergraduate degree in general engineering. While studying abroad may be a new experience for many students at Georgia Tech-Lorraine, this is not Cherlyn’s first time studying abroad! In her undergraduate career, Cherlyn had the opportunity to study abroad in New Zealand while pursuing her general engineering degree. Currently she is doing research in emissions at GTL, and as a part of the process of her research, she quantifies and analyzes the information she finds.
After completing her Master’s, Cherlyn hopes to work in the aerospace industry on the west coast. Having grown up in Seattle, she is in love with the west coast and hopes to settle down somewhere in that area. When I asked her about why she would like to work in the aerospace industry, she said that, “My undergraduate degree was in general engineering, so it was mainly a focus on civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering. Aerospace engineering wasn’t really touched in much in my undergrad. I decided to do aerospace to get exposure to it, and I have always been interested in planes. So I was like aerospace, let’s try it!” What makes her story even more interesting is that growing up most of her life in California, Seattle, and Florida, she was constantly exposed to the aerospace industry throughout her life by living in places near Boeing and NASA for example.
When she is not doing research, traveling, or doing classwork, you may be surprised to find her in the kitchen! She is not only passionate about the aerospace industry, but she also is passionate about baking. One of her life dreams would be to open her own bakery or shop someday. She is also interested in hiking, mountaineering, ballet, and food photography. Since being at GTL, Cherlyn has visited: Switzerland twice to hike up the dare-devilish mountains, Belgium, Nancy, and Lyon. Ever since she was young, she would go on hikes and walks with her parents. After her study abroad in New Zealand, she really began to challenge herself as a mountaineer and hiker. With hiking being one of her favorite hobbies, she plans to take the opportunity of the hiking trails in Europe and challenge herself as a hiker. While on her hiking trips, she enjoys taking pictures of her performing some of her favorite ballet moves at the peak of the mountains she hikes.
Cherlyn is a person that is brave, active, and full of positive energy. As she finishes her time at GTL this semester, she plans on traveling to more countries (including Slovenia, Italy, and Portugal), hiking up mountains in Spain, and completing her Master’s degree. At the end of this semester, Cherlyn will be twirling her way off the graduation stage and continuing her dream professionally as an aerospace engineer.