IREC SECTIONS

IREC COMPETITION rocket

Each year we take our rocket to Midland, Texas to compete in the worlds largest rocketry competition. The competition brings together over 140 teams with 1,800 students from more than 20 countries. We compete in the 10k SRAD hybrid category, meaning our goal is to reach an apogoy of exactly 10,000 feet, no more and no less. Student Researched and Devleoped (SRAD) means the motor was designed and built by students in our organization. We take this a step further and design and build every system of our rocket ourselves including the electronics, parachute, air frame, and nose cone. The following five sections work together to design, build, and integrate our rocket for competition.

Structures

Lead: Kate Bolte

Learn to design, analyze, test and construct the air frame of our competition rocket. We utilize CAD and FEA to model and simulate our various components. You will also learn how to hand lay fiberglass parts, machine aluminum, and assemble the items you've designed.

avionics

Lead: Justin Meyer & Rylan meilutis

Learn the basics of making a functional avionics bay to control our rocket. Using Altium to design cutom PCB boards, you will learn to create a system to deploy parachutes, track altitude and pressure as well as send live information back down to our ground station to be observed mid-flight.

propulsion

Lead: Logan Hubbard

Learn the basics of how a propulsion system works in a hybrid rocket. Utilize the machine shop and CNC to create aluminum casings, graphite nozzles and testing stands for full size test motors. Create and test different fuel grain shapes and sizes to maximize thrust.

dynamics

Lead: Tate Engstrom

Learn to utilize OpenRocket and RocSim to simulate apogee projection and stability of our rocket. We will be determining external body shapes such as nose cone shape and fin dimensions to prepare our rocket for the aerodynamic effects of a 10,000 foot launch.

Recovery

Lead: Emma Bryan

Develop the separation and recovery system for our rocket. Learn to sew a custom in house parachute that will withstand the calculated drag force. An extensive testing campaign includes drop testing and car rig stress testing.

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