Kelly Tran, Computer Science Graduate Spotlight

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Norman, Okla. is a world away from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where Kelly Tran was born. Yet, Kelly has discovered the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering as the perfect place to study and develop her passion in computer science. Kelly’s love of programming began in the second grade when she was introduced to Pascal. By the time she was in sixth grade, Kelly was able to analyze and better understand the programming process. When asked, “Why computer science?” Kelly responds without hesitation, “I like to see the computer respond to something I told it to do.” Kelly came to Oklahoma as a high school exchange student when she was 18. She attended Carl Albert State College for two years before entering the computer science program at OU. Upon arrival, she wasted no time in applying herself, not only to her undergraduate degree, but also in the university community at-large. According to Kelly, it was her adviser and mentor, Deborah Trytten, who made her transition to OU a smooth one. “She was always available to counsel and give wise advice,” Kelly said. The admiration between student and professor is reciprocal. As to Kelly's work ethic, Trytten states, “Kelly's intelligent, motivated, hard working, but also fully connected to her family and community. She has spent 2 1/2 years on a collaboration with the K20 Center in developing an educational multi-player online computer game, McLarin Adventures. She was one of the lead developers in the new OU2GO iPhone application, and was selected to maintain and continue its development. She gets more done in a week than many people do in a month.” Kelly plans to graduate with an accelerated master of science degree in computer science May 2010. She hopes to gain experience working in her field for two years before returning to OU College of Law to study patent law in order to protect the solutions engineers develop. Kelly is thankful for her parents who were willing to make sacrifices to invest in their children’s education. It is obvious that their investment is reaping a remarkable return.

By Karen Kelly

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