Projects at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

The mix team for a motor tested on October 3, 2023.

Project Prometheus Lead

Embry-Riddle Future Space Explorers and Developers Society (ERFSEDS)

Prometheus is the solid propulsion manufacture and test project of ERFSEDS. We aim to manufacture reliable and performant solid rocket motors which can be provided to student projects. Prometheus has successfully manufactured and tested four student-built solid rocket motors since October 2022, each outperforming comparable commercially built motors while being produced at a fraction of the cost. Prometheus is preparing for a flight test of one of our motors in early 2024. Following the in-flight validation of a Prometheus motor, we can begin providing them to student projects at Embry-Riddle and work towards our long-term goal of having Prometheus-build motors power ERFSEDS' Spaceport America Cup rocket to 30,000 feet.

Our most recent motor, tested on October 3, 2023 burned for 2.5 seconds, produced a peak thrust of 130.4 pounds of thrust and a specific impulse of 193.5 seconds.

Mach diamonds visible in the exhaust of a Prometheus motor.

Multiple camera angles of a motor test conducted in spring 2023

2,100 frames per second video of a fall 2023 motor test.

Our testbed rocket, Sisyphus takes flight up to 2,304 feet

Sisyphus under drogue and main parachutes

Project Phantom Lead

Experimental Rocket Propulsion Lab (ERPL)

Prior to joining Prometheus, Phantom was a standalone project within ERPL. Project Phantom aimed to design a parameter-driven solid rocket motor software package which will optimize propellant type, mixture ratio, and fuel grain geometry in order to produce a motor uniquely suited to a client’s requirements.

I initiated and oversaw the process of merging Project Phantom into Project Prometheus to focus university solid rocket research, improve communication between projects, combine budgets, and to better push the envelope in the field of solid rockets.

Project Phantom is now an experimental research wing of Prometheus.

Lab Member

ASTRA Lab

Every year, NASA poses a challenge for university groups- the Micro-g NExT program. The top proposals are selected for manufacture and testing in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) at the Johnson Space Center. For the 2021-2022 challenge, the ASTRA Lab proposed the Photo Reference and Identification Sample Marker (PRISM) device for use on the Lunar surface. PRISM was selected for testing in the NBL- the fourth consecutive year where the lab's proposal had been selected. To prepare for testing, PRISM underwent preliminary underwater testing to gather data about its operability while underwater. The lab then simulated PRISM's regime at the NBL through SCUBA testing. For both test sessions, I served as a support member in the water, relaying communications between the dive team and ground crew and collecting video for future analysis.

Through my involvement with the ASTRA Lab, I have found a passion for SCUBA diving and am working towards my Open Water certification.

Since completing PRISM, the lab's name has been changed from SUIT to ASTRA.

PRISM CAD

PRISM Scuba Testing

PRISM in the NBL

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