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About

Thomas Tran is an emerging researcher in engineering education, with a focus on soft robotics as a vehicle for broadening participation in STEM fields. Working at the intersection of bioengineering and K-12 outreach, Tran has contributed to a growing body of scholarship examining how hands-on robotics experiences shape young students' — particularly young girls' — perceptions of engineering and their own potential within it. His most-cited work, "Using Drawings to Understand Impacts of Soft Robotics Activity on Elementary Age Students' Perceptions of Robots" (2022, 12 citations), employs innovative qualitative methods to uncover how soft robotics activities can help close persistent gender gaps in engineering pipelines. Subsequent work has deepened this inquiry, exploring female students' engineering identity development and extending outreach to Girl Scouts through accessible, project-based design activities. Collaborating with faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Tran has helped demonstrate that soft robotics — with its inclusive, tactile appeal — offers a promising alternative pathway into engineering for historically underrepresented groups. His research, though early-stage, is gaining meaningful traction within the engineering education community.