McMaster Rocketry Team launches one for inaugural Canadian rocket competition

When the student-run McMaster Rocketry Team travelled to Cochrane, Ont., this August for the inaugural Launch Canada competition, they weren't initially sure they would get their rocket in the air.

First, the judges told them the fins were not properly aligned. After fixing that, the rocket short-circuited when it was being assembled.

It was a disaster, and everyone was kind of giving up," recalled Danial Noori Zadeh, a second-year McMaster engineering student and technical lead in training for the team.

The students had already been at the competition for several days. But they persevered to get the bird in the air."

This is part of the sport of rocketry. Some teams had technical difficulties and couldn't launch. The McMaster student team was the last to launch. When they finally got the Marauder I in the air, the excited team watched as they reached their target: three kilometres (10,000 feet) in altitude.

The competition was a first in Canada and this was the first time the McMaster team launched a rocket, said team president Sam Crane, a third-year student.

It was the culmination of work from the team of about 70, made up of mostly undergraduate students. The team is about eight years old, but this is the first time they've got a rocket in the air, aside from smaller tests.

Halfway through, they lost communication with the rocket and the team watched it come down in a forest. It was 4 p.m. and they searched for two hours but never found it. Maybe they will find it when they return to the competition next year with their second, improved rocket under design now. They are also planning for a more difficult hybrid rocket in 2024.

The objective of the team is to design and build a rocket and all of its subsystems and supporting equipment," Crane said.

These rockets are several steps above the small ones you can buy at hobby stores, although the students still sometimes use those, especially with first-year students new to the team.

That camaraderie and co-operation between disciplines and mentoring of younger students is a big part of the team.

It's such an excellent opportunity to apply what we are learning in class and collaborate with peers," Crane said.

This week is space week at McMaster, and on Thursday, students had an opportunity to learn more about the rocketry club at a presentation about basic rocket design. Students could also try a program that allows a user to design a rocket and test it out with a simulation, said second-year student Hannah Raymond, who handles outreach and external relations for the team.

The team is hoping to share a similar presentation with students at high schools and elementary schools.

The team includes students from various engineering programs who work together on sub-teams that design and build each component.

This rocket is travelling at nearly the speed of sound so it's important that everything is properly designed," Crane said.

This includes a team responsible for the structural components of the rocket. The ground structure team designs and builds supporting equipment. The recovery team is responsible for the two parachutes inside the rocket. Then there is the electronics. The team has a student-researched and designed avionics suite. They are responsible for the on-board computer so the team can tell where they are in their flight and deploy parachutes on time. The electronics work can be further broken down into ground control, flight control and students who do all the electrical wiring and power management.

Crane said the hope this year is to add live communication and a 360-degree camera so they can see the rocket in real time and hopefully get cool footage.

Last year's rocket cost about $20,000 to make, and this year's is expected to cost a little more because of advancements. To cover this cost the team has sponsors.

On Saturday, more than a dozen members of the team gathered at the Gerald Hatch Centre at McMaster to plug away at their projects. This day, two first-year students Marwan Ali and Aum Patel are there to listen, learn and talk with peers.

The vibe of the team and how collaborative they are, so hardworking," made it an easy choice to join, Ali said.

Patel said it's the collaborative nature of the rocketry club that drew him in particular.

I wanted to see how to combine different types of engineering," he said.

Both said it was not at all intimidating to join the team.

The team is both a fun chance to apply what students are learning in school, a preparation for future employment and also just a chance to bring people together, Noori Zadeh said.

It makes student life more meaningful," he said.

Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com