SDSU Rocket Project, Senior Design and Aztec Electric Racing - Impact Summary FY2021-22

Fiscal Year 2021-2022

Rocket Project, Senior Design, and Aztec Electric Racing Impact Report engineering.sdsu.edu

Student Success | Rocket Project

ACADEMIC YEAR (AY) 2021-22

Rocket Project Overview

The SDSU Rocket Project provides students the rare opportunity to get hands-on experience with high-tech systems. The rockets are designed, built, and launched by SDSU students; they run simulations, design and manufacture parts, and create technical documents reflecting on lessons learned. These large-scale projects help to further education by bridging the classroom with the real world. Rocket Project also works with faculty, who occasionally offer club members help with research and assistance with technical problems. Because the club has multiple sections, including structures, avionics, manufacturing, propulsions, and fluid systems, all STEM majors have the chance to focus on and improve in their emphasis. This experience helps students prepare for industry and land jobs as successful engineers.

Rocket Project Team

Thank You

Although Rocket Project is an engineering club, it accepts any major. The club uses its position to teach any interested student at SDSU and spread awareness about the aerospace industry. With a monthly newsletter, many social media accounts, and involvement in the younger STEM community, outreach is a large part of the Rocket Project. During fall recruitment, Rocket Project saw over 100 students show interest, with a total of 61 students completing the recruitment process and becoming members. We also have roughly 50 returning members who joined before or during the pandemic, putting total current membership at around 110 students and making Rocket Project one of the largest clubs on campus.

110

ROCKET PROJECT MEMBERS One of the largest clubs on campus with 50 returning members and 61 new members in AY21-22.

The club’s current long-term goal is to construct a two-stage rocket that reaches the Kármán line, or the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space. This line is set at an altitude of 330,000 feet, and reaching it with a liquid rocket is a feat that has yet to be accomplished by any collegiate rocketry team.

Points of Pride

Building rockets and race cars is expensive. Your philanthropic support has made all the difference in these efforts. It has also allowed our students to have experiential learning opportunities that will benefit them throughout their educational and professional careers.

College of Engineering

Largest engineering club on campus.

One of the largest student clubs in the entire university.

One of the oldest collegiate liquid rocketry teams in the United States.

One of the most liquid rocket launches at the collegiate level.

Attempting to reach space with a liquid rocket first stage and solid rocket second stage.

13,205

COLLEGIATE LIQUID ROCKET RECORD Second highest altitude record for collegiate liquid rocket at 13,205 feet with Lady Elizabeth.

Looking to relaunch in the Fall semester.

Student Success | Aztec Electric Racing and Senior Design

Aztec Electric Racing Overview

Aztec Electric Racing (AER) is a competitive design team of multidisciplinary student leaders who work together to design, manufacture, test, and race a Formula-style electric vehicle. They participate in the annual Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE) Collegiate Design Series held in Fontana, California and the annual Adams Motorsports Formula event.

To prove the designs and integrity of their work, the members rigorously test what they made in the months leading up to the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers sponsored international competition in Michigan (June 2022).

Aztec Electric Racing Team

Senior Design

Senior Design classes provide students the opportunity to apply engineering principles and design techniques to the designing, building, and testing of an engineering system.

A single project is completed in this two-course sequence upon presentation of an oral and written report. Issues related to ethics and engineering practice are also discussed.

Student Spotlight

Emily Bidgood, ‘20 B.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Aztec Electric Racing/ Senior Design Emily served Aztec Electric Racing for two years. She also led her Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Project which designed and fabricated a new AER chassis. Emily is now the Associate Design and Release Engineer at Rivian.

Points of Pride

36 Senior Design projects were presented at the 2021-22 Engineering Design Day by Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering/Electrical & Computer Engineering teams SDSU Team HADES, consisting of five Mechanical Engineering and five Electrical & Computer Engineering students, successfully completed the NASA Robotic Mining Competition at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, placing 3rd in Presentation and Demonstration and received the NOVA Award for Stellar Systems Engineering Performance SDSU NASA Robotic Mining Competition

36

TOTAL PROJECTS COMPLETED in 2021-22 18 Mechanical Engineering projects 18 joint Mechanical Engineering/Electrical & Computer Engineering projects

“Thank you for a spectacular Senior Design class and experience. We learned so much from you and this project that we will bring with us to our various jobs in industry and other aspects of life.”

Thank you for your generous support.

For questions regarding this report please contact DonorRelations@SDSU.edu or call (619) 594-2448.

Donor Relations University Relations and Development San Diego State University 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego, CA 92182-8030 SDSU.edu