In August, the Faculty of Engineering’s uoRocketry team won first place in the restricted category and the Grand Launch Trophy at the Launch Canada Challenge, an annual contest involving over a dozen universities from across Canada. Run by Launch Canada, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing rocketry and aerospace innovation through hands-on learning, the competition included 650 students from around 30 schools in total, including colleges and high schools.
“I was lucky enough to be holding the rocket where Col. Hadfield signed! I think the team is happy to bring home a signed nose cone as a memento, along with the trophy.”
Nicholas Kuzyshyn
— uoRocketry propulsion lead
“Winning both the restricted category and the grand launch meant a great deal to us,” says John Szewczyk, the club’s avionics lead. “We had invested substantial time and effort into getting the rocket ready to fly, and these wins made that effort feel especially worthwhile. Competing alongside teams from universities across Canada, including the University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia, made the achievement even more meaningful.”
The leadership of Éloïse Plante Sabourin, Dina Jamani and Victoria Dore was invaluable in winning this year’s competition.
Student members of the team emphasize the value of their experiential learning as they apply classroom learning under pressure, work as a team on the three-inch diameter design of the rocket, propulsion and avionics, and even find and recover the rocket when it returns to earth.
Éloïse, chief engineer and airframe lead, says, “I worked extensively on the aerostructure of the rocket with my co-lead, Dina Jamani, as well as ensuring that all design requirements of the rocket are met.”
“I designed the fins of the rocket. To do this, I used SolidWorks and finite element analysis. This is something that we learn about in courses but applying it to real designs gives us invaluable hands-on experience.”
Éloïse Plante Sabourin
— uoRocketry chief engineer and airframe lead
When Éloïse first participated in the challenge in 2023, she says the team was focused on getting the rocket off the ground and into the air. Three years later, the team won big.
John says, “We bring our expertise together through shared goals and a willingness to work through obstacles. Our common interests and the time we spend tackling challenges together have helped us build friendships that extend beyond our work on the team.”
He explains: “As avionics lead, I worked alongside my co-lead, Randina Amarakoon, to ensure that all recovery and logging systems were operating normally before launch.”
“This work is directly connected to concepts from our courses, including using received signal strength indicator measurements to help locate the rocket after landing and assessing the effects of multipath propagation during ground-based telemetry...”
John Szewczyk
— uoRocketry’s avionics lead
Victoria, co-captain and recovery lead, contributed to the technical development of the rocket as she co-ordinated the team, setting priorities with team leads and tracking progress in the runup to the launch.
“I worked on designing, testing and integrating the recovery system, including the parachutes, rigging and black powder ejection devices. This involved a lot of iteration and testing to make sure the system would reliably deploy and bring the rocket back safely after launch.”
There’s more experiential learning to come. The team’s next goal is to build a liquid engine rocket. Éloïse says the aim is to perform a “static fire” (a test launch with the rocket strapped down) at Launch Canada 2027 before entering it in the advanced launch category at the competition the following year.
Nicholas says, “We’re all looking forward to the testing and flight integration of our new kerosene/liquid oxygen engine. No Canadian institution — private, public or academic — has yet to see the successful flight and recovery of such a system. I am incredibly privileged to be at the forefront of this initiative. With a successful engine test in 2027, a rocket flight and, hopefully, another championship, are very likely in 2028!”
“One aspect I greatly enjoy about this team is the community. To go to competition and to meet with a good percentage of total rocket scientists in the country, whether it be other students or industry professionals, is a huge privilege.”
The right formula on the track
Meanwhile, Formula uOttawa, another of the Faculty of Engineering’s nine competitive teams, celebrated its best-ever result at the Pittsburgh Shootout, finishing third in August at Summit Point Motorsports Park in Summit Point, West Virginia.
Formula uOttawa team captain Marie Levin credits the success to learning lessons about things that can happen in real work environments. Last year, preparations were a bit last minute. Seven students were in the shop daily in the weeks leading up to the competition. Team members were so drained they hardly participated in any races.
“After this experience, we really focused on making the GGR26 (Gee-Gee Racing 2026) more reliable, serviceable, and setting much stricter deadlines,” says Marie. “It set us up very well for our current season, and we are building on that momentum with the new car. So far, the GGR26 has been the strongest car our team has seen, in terms of speed, reliability and the amount of testing it has undergone.”
Faran Rashid, Formula uOttawa technical director, says being involved means students are in the pole position to gain job skills outside of the classroom.
“We learn everything from the very basics, like how to properly use computer-aided design to more advanced skills like using finite element analysis or computational fluid dynamics properly, and then being able to validate our simulations.”
Faran Rashid
— Formula uOttawa technical director
The Pittsburgh Shootout is a non-profit event that provides a forum for student teams to test and validate formula cars so they can get ready to qualify to race in competitions facilitated by SAE International, which runs the Formula SAE student design competition. Started in 2016 by students at the University of Pittsburgh, the event isn’t sanctioned or organized by SAE International as part of the SAE Collegiate Design Series.
Joining a faculty-based student team, club or association is yet another way to benefit from experiential learning at the University of Ottawa. All kinds of clubs exist at the faculties of Arts, Education and Social Sciences, and the Telfer School of Management. If your club has achieved something notable you want to share, let us know by emailing [email protected].
