Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 3 No. 1 Spring 2018 | Page 36

STORY BY RONALD MANIECE II
HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE TEAM
Sara Lepley, third from right, with the HEVT team at an annual competition for EcoCAR3.
Q&A with HEVT alumna Sara Lepley
We recently spoke with HEVT alum Sara
Lepley who is currently in Detroit pursuing
a career in automotive communications with
Weber Shandwick, PR Weeks' Global Agency
of the Year.
How did you find out about HEVT/EcoCAR3
I joined on a whim! I didn’t know much
about automotive so it seemed like a fun
challenge.
What got you interested in HEVT?
I had signed up randomly. Dr. (John)
Tedesco, (Professor, Department of Commu-
nication) the team’s communications faculty
advisor, noticed my name of the sign-up list
and convinced me to do it. I loved his classes
and mentor sessions, so I knew I could trust
him. I haven’t looked back since.
Who has been your most important influence/
MOMENTUM
SPRING 2018
mentor from HEVT?
Kimberly DeClark, the communications and
logistics manager of EcoCAR3, has been the
most important mentor in my career.
Kimberly leads by example and always sets
her mentees up for success. For example, I was
asked if she needed any help for an EcoCAR
event. I figured she would have me and anoth-
er comm manager move chairs for her, maybe
staple some documents, that sort of thing.
Instead, she asked us to help lead journalists
around for the media day. It was so typical of
Kimberly, because she always made sure we
got great, hands-on experience.
She also has a pretty impressive career and
doesn’t mind sharing what she has learned. I
can’t name all the times where I’ve gone to her
for advice and she had a great story.
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