‘We can’t skip any steps’
Space Concordia is a student organization based in the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science. The Rocketry Division members will complete a static test firing to ensure the engine is fully functional and will compete in the Launch Canada Challenge this summer to test their engine and propulsion systems as part of the competition’s Subsystem Design Challenge.
And, before heading to outer space, the team will have to build its rocket.
This most recent rocketry project stands 11 metres tall with a 22-metre-high launch tower. Students will create a liquid engine, a new technology for this group that will require the entire configuration of the rocket’s systems to change.
The project’s chief of engineering is Camille Bernier-Tremblay, a mechanical engineering student in her last year. “We started with a few ideas of what we wanted to accomplish in the design of our rocket and made prototypes to see what could work before we moved on to manufacturing and testing,” she explains.
“We can’t skip any steps. The project needs to be managed closely,” she says. “I need to understand each team’s timeline and the personnel available to them at any given time. And I need to make sure they have the resources to support their manufacturing plan.”
By designing and building the rocket’s structure as well as its flight performance systems, propulsion, avionics, launch tower and de-spin, and ensuring the rocket can be recovered safely after launch, students are getting hands-on experience.
“When I joined Space Concordia in my first year at Concordia, I had a steep learning curve. But I was able to understand complex concepts with the help of my peers and the technicians in the machine shop,” Bernier-Tremblay recalls. “Sometimes I was learning about testing and manufacturing for the rockets before I even learned about it in my classes.”
Capstone collaboration
The Rocketry Division added an experiential learning component, welcoming four Capstone project teams from the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Engineering to contribute to the project.
Leveraging the know-how of 20 final-year students and hundreds of hours of labour, these teams have contributed the launch tower, manufacturing of a rocket engine and testing of ignitors to ensure sufficient oxygenation, as well as designing and testing propellant tanks that are integrated into the rocket’s skin.
Bernier-Tremblay was a member of the Capstone team that did design and materials testing to arrive at the optimal composite configuration for the fins. She started and finished her degree with Space Concordia.
“The level of initiative and resourcefulness these students continue to demonstrate is inspiring,” Krzysztof Skonieczny, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and faculty liaison for Space Concordia. “I am so impressed by what they achieve and how they continually strive to outdo their previous accomplishments.”
Learn more about Concordia’s Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Engineering.
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