Student Competition Rocketry Team

Role:

Propulsion Lead

The Student Competition Rocketry Team, also known as SCRT, participates in the annual International Rocket Engineering Competition. This competition tasks teams to design and manufacture a rocket and payload capable of flying to an exact altitude goal — 10k ft, 30k ft, or 45k ft. Our rocket utilizes simulation and active control to achieve our exact altitude target. Additionally, this rocket flies on an SRAD solid rocket motor that we mix and static fire, each year.

As the Solid Rocket Advanced Development (SRAD) Solid Rocket Propulsion Lead for the Student Competition Rocket Team (SCRT), I direct the design, analysis, and execution of our student-developed solid motor systems. I translate mission-level performance requirements into propulsion system specifications, lead grain geometry and internal ballistics modeling, and oversee propellant formulation, casting, and motor assembly with strict adherence to safety and compliance protocols. I coordinate closely with structures, avionics, and recovery subteams to ensure seamless vehicle integration, and I manage static fire test campaigns—including instrumentation, data acquisition, and post-test reduction—to iteratively validate and refine motor performance for competition-ready flight vehicles.