Meet TWK Tutor: Chris Delianides
Between his passion for math and physics and his eclectic group of hobbies, you're bound to learn something new from Chris. Is your student looking for a role model that has studied everything engineering has to offer? Are they in need of someone that can make learning difficult topics fun and engaging? If you answered yes, Chris is the tutor for you.
My Degrees & Education
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Virginia
M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from CWRU
Currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from CWRU
My Subject Expertise
Algebra, Geometry & Calculus
Physics
Computer Science
"I have a highly eclectic group of hobbies including cooking, sewing, language learning, physical fitness and nutrition, and tabletop role-playing games."
Tell us about your work.
I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in the BioMicroSystems laboratory at CWRU. In general, my work centers on the design and development of point-of-care devices for biomedical diagnosis. Currently, I am working on a handheld microdevice for monitoring blood coagulation defects in the incidence of trauma. The goal of this project is to guide more specific treatment options to better patient outcomes.
How did you get into this field?
In the beginning, I actually started as a Biomedical Engineer with the intent to go to medical school. It wasn’t until some of the more technical engineering courses in my undergraduate curriculum that my passion for math and physics were reignited. Throughout my Masters, I developed a love and appreciation for biotechnology, but still felt that my interest in the more technical and math-heavy sides of engineering design were not being fully satisfied. After obtaining my degree, I eventually found my place in the electrical engineering department at CWRU. I'm currently in pursuit of my doctorate and could not be happier with the type of work that I get to do daily. It was hardly a straight path, but I appreciate my journey because it's given me a unique set of skills and a good deal of personal wisdom that allows me to pursue my work with more insight and perspective.
What unique approach do you bring to your job as a tutor?
Despite graduating from high school at the top of my class and performing very well in my undergraduate and graduate coursework, I have come to find the traditional way of teaching via lecture to be neither an efficient nor enjoyable way of learning. In fact, much of the expertise that I draw on as part of my current work is entirely self-taught, as I had never really had a formal electrical engineering education before being accepted into my current program. As such, I have developed an interest and knowledge in how to learn more efficiently and have a deep sense of empathy for a student who struggles to learn a difficult topic. In my experience, no topic is too difficult to understand, it just takes having the right methods and materials to make the material click.
What’s something (unrelated to your field of study) that you’d like to learn more about?
One huge gap in my education has always been world history. Due to some weird scheduling in high school, I never actually had to take the class and have been wanting to sit down and learn about the various empires and ancient civilizations ever since. Recently, I discovered the excellent History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan, and after devouring all 74 hours of it in just a few months, I now have a long list of books and podcasts about different historical periods that I am eager to get to. As a lover of fantasy novels, I think I have had such a fun time learning ancient history because it feels just like reading a great series, except that all the people and places in the story actually existed at one point, and the effects of the major plot points can still be seen in the world we live in today.
Interested in working with Chris and rest of The Whole Kid team? Contact us to learn how we can help your student reach their full potential!