Overview
As a member of the Stanford Space Initiative Rocketry and Liquid Propulsion teams, I work across both high-power solid rocketry and liquid propulsion development. I earned my NAR High Power Rocketry Level 1 certification by designing, building, and successfully flying an I-motor rocket with motor ejection and parachute recovery.
Level 1 Certification Flight
The L1 project involved end-to-end design and fabrication:
- Airframe sizing and stability analysis (static margin, CP/CG sweep) for the I-motor impulse class
- Nose cone and fin geometry CAD, fin can layup
- Motor ejection charge sizing for reliable apogee deployment
- Dual-event recovery (drogue at apogee, main at low altitude) with redundant altimeters
- Successful flight and recovery — L1 certification awarded
Level 2 Dual-Stage Hot-Staging Vehicle
I am currently developing a Level 2 dual-stage hot-staging rocket — a more complex vehicle where the second stage ignites while the first stage is still attached, requiring careful timing and interstage design.
Key engineering work includes:
FMEA — systematic failure mode and effects analysis across avionics, pyrotechnics, staging sequence, and recovery systems to identify and mitigate single-point failures before flight.
Chamber-wall heat-transfer analysis — thermal modeling of combustion chamber wall temperature during burn, informing material selection and wall thickness for the motor case.
Liquid propulsion plumbing — as part of the SSI Liquid Propulsion team, I am designing propellant feed lines, valves, and a static fire test stand for a small bipropellant engine under development.