Hell's Kitchen: 25 kilonewton test stand

For my work on the Ground Support Equipment (GSE) subteam, I designed the thrust structure for our new horizontal hybrid/liquid rocket engine test stand.

The stand is designed to be disassembled for easier storage and transportation, with flat weldments held together with ¼ inch steel gussets. The stand is securely bolted to a steel girder structure embedded in the ground, which is designed to absorb and distribute the full thrust load directly into the ground. The stand is also positioned directly against two concrete blocks, which can also serve as backups in absorbing the horizontal thrust force.

I conducted Finite Element Analysis using SOLIDWORKS to verify the structural integrity of the stand under load, and it performed exceptionally well during our recent full static fire, showing no signs of damage or deformation following the test.

Launch Canada 2025 - Hydra

On Tuesday, August 19th, 2025, just outside of Timmins, ON., at the Launch Canada Competition. UBCO Aerospace’s rocketry division successfully launched and recovered the HYDRA Mini rocket. Flying to an altitude of 1652m (~5400ft), and reaching a maximum speed of 173.96m/s (~Mach 0.5). This launch marked historic firsts:

- The first clustered hybrid rocket launched from Canadian soil

- The first non-commercial team, possibly worldwide, to launch a clustered hybrid rocket

At ignition, we successfully lit our central Contrail M1491 hybrid engine alongside a J642 booster, with two additional boosters air-starting moments later. This sequence led to the shearing of the launch lugs and subjected the rocket to an incredible 21.2 Gs of peak drag deceleration off the rail. Thanks to the robust design of our fibreglass and carbon fibre composite aerostructure, the rocket held strong and corrected its trajectory with the two boosters air-starting, demonstrating the resilience of our design and testing.

I also made our recap video! Check it out here.

Heartbreak

My first custom medium-power rocket. It flew an Aerotech G80T motor, and reached about Mach 0.5 according to simulations. The nosecone and fin assemblies were designed in Solidworks and 3D printed. I flew this rocket at an event in Southern Washington with the UBCO rocketry team.

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