91社区

91社区 Teams Place in Top Three at Hybrid Rocket Competition

91社区鈥檚 Technology and Aerospace Club (TAC) recently placed third in two categories at the 2016-17 Hybrid Motor High-Powered Rocket Competition.


By kelsie weekes | 3/30/2017

(TAC) within the recently placed third in two categories at the 2016-17 Hybrid Motor High-Powered Rocket Competition in Bunnell, Florida.

Team 鈥91社区 Skywalkers鈥 placed third in the 鈥淢aximum Altitude鈥 category, while team 鈥91社区 Owl Out of Ideas鈥 placed third in the 鈥淐losest to 2000 Feet鈥 category. 91社区鈥檚 highest launch was 2,175 feet. While 91社区 has entered the competition in previous years, this was the first time an 91社区 team had a successful launch at the competition.

鈥淭he faculty of the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering are extremely proud of the accomplishments of this relatively new club. The club鈥檚 impressive performance is strictly because of the passion and hard work of the officers and team members,鈥 said Ph.D., professor and chair of , and team faculty adviser. 鈥淲e hope to initiate a tradition of excellence in this aerospace field that showcases their continued success.鈥

More than 20 teams from Florida colleges and universities participated in the event, which was sponsored by the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium and the Northeast Florida Association of Rocketry . Teams built their rockets from scratch or a kit, and were awarded points based on successful flights and an engineering notebook, which detailed the team鈥檚 data, calculations, drawings, test results, notes and ideas.

鈥淥ur success is notable not just because this was our first launch at the competition, but also because nearly all of the students participating had no prior aerospace experience,鈥 said Kavita Braun, president of TAC. 鈥淲e achieved our goal of placing in the top three by increased communication among members, more time practicing inside and outside the lab and amazing mentors in the community helping us along the way.鈥

In addition to Braun, other team members of TAC include Tyler Ekstrom (motor/power systems team leader), Adam Prey (electronics team leader), Roberto Sanchez-Giron (design team leader), Michael Padron, Jeffrey Basiliere, Dudrine Richemond, Daniel Rodriguez, Daniel Marra, Carlos Herrera, Brandon Nava, Tahir Farrukh, Heather Crawford, Victoria Brace and Jade Minkoff.聽

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