Stephanie Meyer

Stephanie Meyer has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, but she’s also mastered both robotics and racing. The doctoral student from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has had many victories with the Autonomous Tiger Racing team and hopes to soon have new initials in front of her name.

Why Auburn

“I did undergrad at NC State, and I was on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) student chapter design team. I had a friend on the team who graduated before I did, and he came down to Auburn to work in the GPS and Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory (GAV lab). He came back to NC State and told us about how great it was. I really enjoyed designing robots and I wanted to do more research, so I came to Auburn for the master’s program.”

Why Engineering

“The ASME team at NC State had yearly challenges of making robots to accomplish certain tasks. That was my introduction to robotics. At first, I didn’t know anything about it, but it was excellent being around all the people who had a little bit more experience with it. Through that community, I was able to pick up the skills and passion for robotics.”

Autonomous Tiger Racing Team  

“I started my master’s degree at Auburn in 2018, and I worked with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology. When the team first got started, I’d become one of the few LiDAR experts in the GAV lab, so I was recruited to the team. I wasn’t sure at first because I wasn’t interested in racing very much, but I went to Indianapolis once the first physical cars were available. It didn’t take long for me to get fully invested in the competition. At first, it was terrifying to oversee this million-dollar machine. My coding was responsible for making the car avoid other cars on the track, so I spent a lot of time on it. It was the most intense euphoria I’ve ever felt to see my coding work.”

Future plans

“I will hopefully be graduating with my doctorate by May 2026. After that, I’m leaning toward going into academia. I would love to start an autonomous vehicle lab at another university.”

To learn more about Meyer, check out her interview on the award-winning #GINNing Podcast.