Shiley E. (IN A NUTSHELL)

Shiley is a sophomore studying mechanical engineering at Stanford University passionate about mechanism design and structures. He originally was supposed to be a junior but took a gap year during the pandemic to take a break from online school and work at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the magnetometer of a spacecraft that’s flying all the way to Jupiter in 2024. His love for STEM started back in the day, building LEGO sets at home and reading Ms Frizzle books, but it wasn’t until he joined the FRC robotics team his first year of high school that he realized that mechanical engineering was his calling. After becoming the design team leader his sophomore year, he also learned that he loved teaching the new robotics team members all the skills and tools that he had learned. He loves designing and building things, and taking projects from the idea phase all the way through brainstorming and prototyping to a final product, whether that is a walnut box with aluminum inlay organize the cables on his desk, a 120 pound robot, or a folding stool with a leather seat. Outside of college classes, he spends most of his time working on the solar car team, where he designs, builds, and races a car for the World Solar Challenge. He is also a part of Stanford's Student Space Initiative, where he led a small team in designing a mechanical staging mechanism for a rocket. Through previous internships, classes, and these extracurriculars, he has gained substantial experience using CAD programs as well as using machining and fabrication tools including CNC mills and routers, welders, laser cutters, and various hand and power tools. Beyond the engineering realm, Shiley is a member of the Stanford ultimate frisbee as well as the rock climbing teams and also enjoys backpacking, biking, snowboarding, soccer, and cooking.