Chance Shepherd
Mechanical Engineering Student

About Me:

Hello!

My name is Chance Shepherd and I am a sophomore at Iowa State University studying Mechanical Engineering.

I grew up in Normal, Illinois, where I attended University Highschool before heading off to Ames, Iowa, to attend Iowa State. Here in Ames, I found myself apart of many different organizations here on campus, most notably FSAE EV, and becoming a MELTS Peer Mentor.

During my Freshman year at Iowa, I joined the EV team for FSAE at Iowa State (Cyclone Racing). Formula EV is a new branch of Cyclone racing that was created in 2022. Formula SAE gives us students a unique opportunity to apply engineering concepts to the real-world challenge of designing and building a race car, all while collaborating with a team of peers. It’s a hands-on experience that pushes us to solve complex technical problems, manage a project from start to finish, and compete against other teams to see how our work stacks up.

Heading into my sophomore year, I ran in a small election on the formula team, and landed the Accumulator Mechanical Engineering position. This position will allow me to design and devolop portions of our accumulator, all while ensuring that it meets proper safety standards.

During my time in Formula, I recieved my High Voltage Vehicle Safety Training Certificate provided by Dekra. View here. As well as completing many different safety certificates and trainings, which you can access by clicking this link below by clicking the "Certificates" link.

Certificates

Additionally, I became a MELTS (Mechanical Engineering Learning Team) Peer Mentor my sophomore year. This position requires me to run a small class of about 20 students, twice a week, where I can assist and guide freshman mechanical engineering students with coursework and any academic challenges they may face. I also help with introducing new study techniques, time management advice, and access to university resources. This class has been an incredibly enriching experience for me and the students, as I have learned countless valuable lessons on how to be an effective mentor, and leader. To prepare for this position, I took a leadership 101 course my freshman year to properly prepare myself for leadership.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to work as an Engineering Intern with the McLean County Highway Department in Bloomington, IL. During my time there, I played a key role in collecting and organizing field data for various road maintenance and infrastructure improvement projects. I conducted site inspections, ensuring that all activities were in compliance with safety and engineering standards. Additionally, I analyzed data and prepared reports on construction progress and project performance, helping the team stay on track and meet our goals. This hands-on experience has significantly enhanced my understanding of engineering practices and has given me valuable insights into the real-world applications of engineering principles.

Looking ahead, I’m excited to pursue a career in the automotive or aerospace fields, where I can combine my passion for engineering with my love for cutting-edge technology. I’m particularly interested in working on innovative projects that push the boundaries of vehicle performance. Whether it’s developing advanced electric vehicles or contributing to the next generation of aerospace technologies, I’m driven to make an impact in industries that shape the future of transportation.

Outside of school and work, I love spending my time working out, climbing, and playing or listening to music. I play lots of instruments, but most notably piano and bass. At the bottom of the website you can see two of my favorite playlist I listen to on Spotify!

Check out the rest of my website for more information about me, my resume, some projects I have been working on, my youtube channel, and ways to contact me.

Thank you!

Check out my Resume

Projects/Experiences:

Formula Projects and Experiences

Click the picture of our Formula Car to check out my work and experiences on the team.

Or, click this link below to visit the page.

Link

Dobsonian Telescope

Click the picture of the mirror to check out more of my Telescope construction.

Or, click this link below to visit the page.

Link

My Website

In Decemeber of 2022 I decided that I wanted to build my own personal website entirely from the ground up. Alone in my room, I learned how to set up my website through AWS cloud services like Route 53 and S3 Bucket. Since then, I have been watching countless videos and reading articles learning how code in HTML and CSS. Additionally, very recently I have been learning JavaScript, which is what I built the date function on the bottom of my website with. For now, I am continuing to work on the website and make it better each day!

Because of the skills I learned coding, I decided to attend a datathon event my Freshman Year, where I gained valuable experience manipulating data in a competetion setting.

Check Out my Videos:

Recently I have been posting on Youtube various videos of me studying, doing projects, and educational videos. In the future, I am going to begin teaching on youtube for various topics like Calculus. But for now, it is just a display of my work.


Here you can see me coding in MATLAB on a timelapse

Click on the YouTube logo to get a link to my YouTube account. You can also find it in my contacts section of my website below.

Contact Me: