Denton ISD Our Impact In Your Community Magazine Summer 2017 | 页面 24

Catching
Up with…
Matthew Merchant
Who: 2017 Graduate of Ryan High School
Hometown: Shady Shores, TX
Age: 18
What’s up?
Sixteen years ago, on a whim, Matthew Merchant’s parents moved his family over 1,800 miles from
New Hampshire to Texas.  Settled in Shady Shores, Matthew is like any other typical teenager who likes
to hang out with his nine siblings, his girlfriend and fish.  He’s also actively involved in extracurricular
activities, serving as the Community Service Liaison for National Honor Society, the Treasurer for Spanish
Honor Society, all while juggling a part-time job.  
Most high school seniors, however, aren’t able to say that they’ve already held internships with major
companies or consulted on engineering projects before they’ve ever taken a college course.  Matthew
has done all that and more, including serving on DATCU’s junior board of directors.  Now, that he has
graduated from Ryan High he’s headed for bigger things.
But don’t take our word for it, here’s Matthew in his own words…
Denton ISD: Earlier this year, you were designated a National Merit Commended Scholar and an AP
Scholar - congratulations!  What was the path you took to receive those awards?  
Matt Merchant:  For the National Merit Commended Scholar, I took a PSAT (Pre-Scholastic Aptitude Test)
class my sophomore year.  It was designed to help prepare us for the test.  From that class, I learned a
lot.  My junior year, I scored high enough to qualify for extra distinctions alongside every person from
my school who was in the class.  I also took five different AP classes, because I’ve always been good at
math and science.  I was the only person to pass the AP Physics test and I also passed statistics and the
English tests.    
DISD: So, now that you’ve graduated, what are your plans?
MM: I am going to go to the University of Texas at Arlington in August where I’ll be a mechanical
engineering major.  After graduating college, I can see myself working as an engineer for Lockheed
Martin or a company like Peterbilt.  I’ve always liked working with cars and trucks.   
DISD: Have you always known you wanted to work with cars and trucks?
Story by
Courtney Martin
Photo by
Julie Zwahr
24
MM:  Growing up and starting high school, I always thought I’d be a pharmacist or go into a science or
biology related field.  I started the engineering program at the LaGrone Advanced Technology Complex
(ATC) when I was a sophomore and my interests switched.  There, I learned that  you can design anything
you want from the computer design of a part to actually creating it by using a 3-D printer, CNC machines
and a plasma cutter.  
DISD: What projects did work on at the ATC?  
MM: I worked on an electric dragster, creating the model for all the parts and manufacturing some.  Last
year, our project was to make the dragster as energy efficient as possible and we figured a way to get a
crazy number of miles per energy.  We also focused on designing the front end last year and this year,
we focused on the shock attachments, back wheels, and battery storages.  In December, we switched
to working on the food truck.  I did most of the computer modeling of the bus and created the different
mounts for the equipment to go into.  So, we’ve gotten to see all the parts created for the food truck
starting from the sheet drawings, cutting the parts, and watching welding (students) assemble it using
our designs.