September 8, 2022
We would like to introduce one of our amazing Waterloo Engineering Student Design Teams, the Waterloo Rocketry team.
The Waterloo Rocketry team designs, manufactures, tests, and launches high-powered sounding rockets to a target altitude of 30,000 ft!
The amount of engineering that goes into every rocket is incredible; from rocket engine design to electronic control systems to structural and aerodynamics analysis, there is work for every engineering discipline - and how can you beat doing literal rocket science for fun?
As much as the team exists to build a rocket, we’re also just a bunch of friends who happen to enjoy massive pyrotechnic events (engine tests), dropping things out of helicopters (how else do you test parachute deployment?), and grabbing dinner together afterwards. Of course everything is done with the Student Design Centre’s approval and we have extensive safety procedures in place, but that does not make it any less awesome!
What project(s) is the design team currently working on?
This year we will be designing and building our next rocket to be flown in June 2023.
Some of the major projects include a suite of improvements to our hybrid engine (hybrid meaning it has a solid fuel and liquid oxidizer), composite materials analysis for our airframe and payload, a radio systems overhaul to get telemetry during flight, and much more! We’re also super excited to continue development on our new, liquid bipropellant engine to be flown in 2024.
What competition(s) has/have the Team been a part of recently or in the past?
Each year, the team competes in the Spaceport America Cup which takes place every June in the New Mexico desert. At our last three competitions we competed in the most advanced category and took home second place twice and third once, along with awards for innovation and technical excellence.
What are the benefits of being part of a Student Design Team?
Student Design Teams are an amazing way to apply the knowledge and skills you learn in class to solve real problems. It’s also incredibly educational, both in being able to dig deep into a hard problem and learn the skills you need to solve it and also in being exposed to the cross-disciplinary work that the rest of the team is doing! It’s super fun to hang around the design bay and help out other team members working on a different subsystem than you.
How can interested students join this team?
To join, head over to the Waterloo Rocketry website to fill out the sign up form and we’ll add you to our Slack as soon as possible. There are no prerequisites or time commitments, if you’re excited about joining the team we’re happy to have you on board!