[5] Sheppard has held positions in Detroit, working at Chrysler Corporation and also at Ford Motor Company's Scientific Research Lab.

[7] Between 1999 and 2008, she also served as Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, where she had responsibility for the Preparations for the Professions Program (PPP) engineering study and report.

[11] In 2012 Sheppard received the Ralph Coats Roe Award from the American Society for Engineering Education, for "notable professional contributions".

[12] Sheppard received Stanford's 2014 President's Award for Excellence Through Diversity, "for serving as a trailblazing role model for women in engineering".

Professor of the Year, "for her innovative approach to teaching undergraduate students in a hands-on, problem-solving way that transforms large classes into small group learning laboratories".