Tag: Andrew Matthes

Fredericksburg’s Engineering Rocket Program-(April 13-June 1) Final Classroom Update for Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors

Today is May 31, 2018 and we are catching up on the FHS Engineering program and what they have done since April 13th. This article will also bring the a fabulous year to an end for the Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors, since the school year is ending this Friday, June 1st, with graduation. They will all resume studies in the program next school year. After graduation, we will resume Redbird #19 updates with the graduates through June until they have launched at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR).

It has been seven weeks since our last update on the Freshmen, Sophomores, and Seniors and quite a bit has been happening on all levels.

On Tuesday, May 15, the Freshmen embarked on a field trip to three locations. They began here in Fredericksburg, at Fischer and Wieser. Next they went on to the University of Texas at Austin to the JJ Pickle Research Center-Ferguson Structural Engineering Lab, and then a main campus tour including the Engineering Education and Research Building.

Ashley Seelig, Dietz Fischer and Nicole Whorton began the day at Fischer and Wieser giving the students a historical background on the company. Afterwards they took them on a walk through of the plant during which they described all aspects of their process, beginning with material acquisition through the shipment of products. Students found this familiar as it closely related to their orange juice production project completed earlier this year.

It was noted that the staff at Fischer and Wieser all work well with each other. They provide a comfortable working environment with a sense of family and pride in what they do.  They were all happy to host the students and show them around.

At the JJ Pickle Research Center-Ferguson Structural Engineering Lab at UT,  Dr. Tricia Clayton hosted the students. She began by discussing structural engineering and the scope of the work they do at the lab. The facility is nearly 50,000 square feet, and one of the largest labs in the country for testing and research of structures. This includes material types, fabrication process integrity, testing on pieces taken out of operation (like cracked bridge structures), train track safety and much more.

Next Dr. Clayton enlightened students on how she progressed from a high school student, to a PhD recipient, as well as a researcher and college professor.  Mr. Matthes commented that, “Her enthusiasm was contagious as her passion for her field of study and teaching bubbled to the surface.”

FHS Alumnus Matthew Dulaney,  and Sterling Weatherford took the group to lunch at the Market Place located below Dobie Dormitory. Matthew is studying Chemical Engineering at UT and Sterling who was visiting, is studying Aerospace Engineering at Arizona State University. The two shared their own individual perspectives of their college experiences as they gave the students a walking tour of the main campus.

The students’ last stop was at the Engineering Education and Research Center Building. Here they found the building’s structural supports interesting, as well as a 3 story, 10 foot radius spiral staircase with only a center support structure. The main attraction was on the bottom floor. There they admired the very extensive 3D printing lab. The air conditioning was also a major hit with the students after their campus tour in the heat.

As far as class work, they have done quite a lot since the mid-April program report. They have completed their Orange Juice Production Plant project as well as a project to calculate aerodynamic drag on a rocket. They are currently trying to research and calculate the characteristics of a hybrid rocket motor. This is the aerospace component of the project.  This has helped the students reach new heights and has left them a bit overwhelmed according to Mr. Matthes.  They presented their findings in the classroom on Tuesday.

The sophomores were allowed to work through the curriculum at their own pace this year, due to that the group is spread out in their studies. While there are those that have completed the curriculum others are still working hard to get all the materials done.  Those that have completed ahead, have moved forward into 3D modelling and printing of their material findings.

Next year, a new class called Intermediate Computer Aided Drafting and Design (ICADD) will be added, allowing new students the opportunity to delve deeper into 3D modeling with AutoDesk’s program, Inventor.  This is a good thing, according to Mr. Matthes because, “The class should provide students all the fundamentals of 3D modelling and having those skills down will have them ready to take on other equivalent programs such as SolidWorks (A Common 3D Modelling Software For Mechanical Type of  Drawings).  This will have them ready for any higher education drafting classes as colleges and technical schools tend to stick with those two software suites for modelling mechanical drafting.”

There have been two updates on the Juniors as they launched their rockets at the Fredericksburg Rockets 2018 in Willow City on late April 26th. If you missed those launches, you can still view them on the Livestream videos from the weekend. They can be found at the following link:

https://livestream.com/systemsgo

Here are some pictures from Mr. Matthes of the Junior teams on their launch day. I have also included a synopsis of their rocket’s accomplishments that day.

Team 1’s rocket, labeled as rocket #34 had a beautiful lift off from the rail, but before reaching its full height went into a cork screw spin, nosed over and began a ballistic decent. It landed hard on its side in a field to the left of the Pad and charges didn’t deploy until hitting the ground. It was fully recovered which enabled them to get  data from the rocket. Their vehicle reached 588 mph, 0.78 Mach.

 

Team 2 had an awesome flight with full deployment  and recovery. The rocket flew to a height of 11,232 feet at a speed of 763.6 miles per hour. The vehicle broke the first sound barrier at 1.027 Mach. Unfortunately their camera did not turn on  properly so no flight video, and their payload which was a bag of Cheezits which was supposed to burst open due to pressure drop,  was still intact, the bag did not open. Congratulations on breaking the sound barrier.

 

And here are some additional students that helped at the pad during the Fredericksburg launches.

  

Currently the Juniors have been completing things in order to present their Post Mission Analysis this week.  Team 1, was on Tuesday at 1:40 p.m. and Team 2 on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at FISD’s Central Office board room. All are welcome to attend. Come learn about the program. Asking questions of the presenting students is encouraged.

This will conclude this year’s reports on the Juniors. We will pick up with them next year as seniors when they begin their Goddard level project and attempt to launch at White Sands Missile Range.

The Seniors have approximately 23 days until Redbird 19 is scheduled for testing at White Sands Missile Range, on June 22.  This date is fairly permanent  but still at the mercy of the Army until closer to that time. Mr. Matthes will announce if there are any changes to that date.

Progress on the Redbird #19 rocket is ongoing. Students are in a waiting and coordinating process with SRM, a local machine shop with which  that they have the larger metal work contracted out. A helping advantage they have this year, is that FHS Alumni, Joseph Sanchez, hired on for the summer with Luke Morin at SRM. Joseph has been instrumental as a liaison between the team and the machine shop. Mr. Matthes states, that “this will surely help organizationally with the completion of the project.” He also says, “Kudos” to Joseph for his ability to acquire a summer job at SRM.

The Redbird #19 team is currently slated to depart for White Sands on June 20th with the test-minus-one(T-1) briefing  on the morning of the 21st, and final rocket preparations occurring that afternoon. Students are expected to give an overview of their rocket, payload and flight expectations for WSMR officials at the T-1 briefing.

Fredericksburg will be first to fly on the 22nd, therefore their rocket will be loaded onto the rail and left over night the 21st. This allows things to move faster the next morning as loading the payload, attaching the nose cone, loading oxidizer, and testing the rocket are all that will need to be done.

According to Mr. Matthes,  “As always, there is a chance the rocket won’t fly due to some technical failure occurring in the process of filling or ignition.  This sort of failure occurs regularly at White Sands as a testing grounds.  The difference between what the students do and industry does is cycling the process:  conducting a post mission analysis, correcting sources of problems and then having another go.  The lack of the opportunity to try again makes the individual testing of as many components as possible all the more important.  As of yet, the only testing performed has been on the altimeter which has proved positive for expected operation.  Time will tell what else the students have time to test.”

The team is running late on their completion  schedule due to their own delays and some things beyond their control and this will likely mean no preliminary testing of components, but they are expected to complete the rocket in time for launch.

Mr. Matthes had this to say about the senior class, “The class of 10 students together has accumulated over a 1000 hours of overtime (out of class engineering time) and has a few hundred to go before the project is done.  They have worked hard and will see the fruits of their labor continue over the summer. The students graduate Friday night and after 3 years, and 4 years for many of them, it is always bittersweet to send my students off.  The projects always delay the farewells until post launch but it is a significant leap for these young men and Miss Secrhist.  I am proud of all of them and look forward to all the great things ahead in their lives.  It is a diverse group of students with extensive interests and pathways.  I’m sure their paths will twist and turn as they move on but their trajectory looks promising and exciting.”

Congratulations to Harrison Spisak on s job well done! He was awarded the Engineering Academic Excellence Award, on May 7, at the FHS Academic Excellence Awards Banquet.

This article is the seventh for the 2017/2018 school year in a series of periodic updates that has followed the Fredericksburg Engineering/Rocket program. This school is a participant of the SystemsGo STEM program. This series of articles is intended to support and encourage students in the program as they share their working status and accomplishments throughout the year in the program. These publications will be available for tags and re-posting.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org . Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

 

Rockets 2018 Saturday, Day 2 For Houston -Recap and Sunday’s Schedule

Today was another success filled day at Houston Rockets as six schools were slated to launch a total of 24 rockets. The number dropped to 19 though as 5 from different schools were scrubbed. That is a total of 40 rockets so far for the weekend. The Recovery map shows 35 found with 5 lost or in process of location. At this point they are at an 88% recovery rate. That is not bad, Fredericksburg’s crews finished their weekend with a 91% recovery rate. I will be curious to see which recovery group will finish with the highest percentage. Just thought I would add in a little friendly competition between recovery groups. Besides the better we all do, the better it is for the students.

Well weather seemed to be a repeat of yesterday with a sunny/partly cloudy but breezy day. Not bad rocket weather. It definitely didn’t hamper the launches because they put up all 19 by 17:26(5:26) this evening. That is an awesome time schedule for the day. As Phil stated on the Livestream, “We are going to get to eat supper before 10:30 tonight.”

Interesting events for the day included a “Dog-onaut” which literally did Ride The Sky on four of Northstar High School’s rockets today. His name was Logan, the stuffed dalmatian dog that they affixed to the vehicles and recovered him to ride again and again. After his fourth flight they did allow him retirement and he will always be remembered in the high school rocket launch hall of fame. Unfortunately I did not get my own shot of him, but this one is from the SystemsGo Facebook post about him.

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The last launch of the day took the theme from #RideTheSky to #WriteYourOwnStoryInTheSky. As Northstar High School launched a rocket designed to look like a giant pencil. Here it is pictured below.

 

 

Launches will continue  Sunday. The schedule is posted below, as well as an online link to it.  Four schools and 11 rockets are due for testing.

The current launch schedule for Sunday is shown below and may also be downloaded from SystemsGo website at the following address: http://www.systemsgo.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-Houston-Flight-Schedule-4-17-18.pdf

Sunday, May 13, 2018
School Name / Teacher 1/1 Trans
Anahuac HS
Kirk Moore		 1 1
Booker T Washington HS
Nghia Le		 2  1
Kingwood Park HS
Glenn Taylor		 4
McGregor HS

Taylor Wilson

  1  1
Schools Launching                         4
Totals 8 3
Total Rockets 11

Please remember that since there is public access to this event, there are registration tickets for order and those may be found on the SystemsGo website as well at this  link:  https://www.greateventseats.com/SystemsGo . They are FREE, but REQUIRED. There is a waiver for admission you will sign along with your admittance ticket. You can get them at the gate but it is strongly advised to do this online ahead of time so that you do not slow yourself or anyone else down getting onto the range. This could cause you and others to miss your intended launches.

More event details will be available here after the completion of Sunday’s event.  Reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will be posted during the events.

Pictures  will be available here in this blog and in Facebook albums for you to view at the end of each days launches, as well as during the day from Phil and SystemsGo on Facebook. Links to both our Facebook pages are below.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow

Unfortunately I only had WiFi available for a short portion of the end of the day, so I only got a few screen grabs, and no photos from a team members but I will post what I have.

https://www.facebook.com/SystemsGoEducation/

If you follow this program and like to view the launches, Rockets 2018  will have Livestream available at the Smith Point launches so you will be able to view them online at the following address: https://livestream.com/systemsgo.

If you have been to the Houston area launches in the past you may want to check out the SystemsGo website for information because this location is only in its second year for that area. Information and a map link are available.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org . Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Hope to see you at the races, nope, but I will race you for a rocket!  #RideTheSky! #Launcher01 #ItISrocketScience #Rockets2018

I would like to  wish all the schools and students a picture perfect flight and recovery.

 

Rockets 2018-Friday, Day 1 For Houston-Recap and Saturday’s Schedule

Today, Friday was the first day of Houston rocket launches. Five schools tested a total of 21 rockets today. The weather was sunny/partly cloudy and windy.

The first launch of the day, was Rocket #85 from Brazosport High School. The vehicle left the rail nicely but soon went into a spiral and came down. The upside is that is was fully recovered so they will be able to analyze their data and determine what happened. Students commented after the launch that they were happy that it did leave the rail. Congratulations Brazosport on your launch and recovery!

The second launch of the day, was by the Aeronautics and Rocket Club of the University of Texas at San Antonio. This is an actual club, not a class at UTSA that students join on their own. The utilize their own time in order to research, develop, draft, design, build, and fund their rocket. The students are all class levels. Today’s Rocket # 87 is a Transonic rocket predicted to surpass at least the first sound barrier. They have a double payload including a video device inside the rocket attached to the altimeter to video activity inside the vehicle during flight, and a GoPro camera mounted to record the flight from the outside as it is traveling. Ironically, the student in the interview said this was to back up the Live feed because sometimes it goes out, at which time it did go out, and I missed the rest of the interview! They had a very impressive launch, unfortunately it flew so well, that it is as of yet unrecovered.

Alpha Search and Rescue is there again this year, heading up the recovery efforts. Erin spoke with Phil and explained how their system works with a real-time mapping, GPS, and azimuth to locate the rockets after launch. Their mapping system allows viewers to follow the progress of the rockets, and know if their vehicle has been recovered and where it was found, or if it is still being actively searched for, or determined to be unrecoverable.

The link for that mapping system is shown on SystemsGo‘s website and listed here. You will be able to follow the progress of the recovery throughout the weekend on it. https://bit.ly/2FRSjVx

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is also available on site again this weekend. Take the time to visit with their rep about the opportunities available for your students.

Well unfortunately I lost my feed after 1700, but according to the search and rescue map all 21 were launched and all but 3 were recovered. That does not mean each was a perfect launch,  but then that is why they are considered test vehicles, and in spite of that they are all considered successful because of the students’ accomplishments in getting them here today to test. All in all it was a good day with fabulous weather, and a great location with good results. And they get to do it all over again Saturday.

Launches will continue all day Saturday, and  Sunday. Saturday’s schedule, posted below, and with a link to it online, boasts six schools and 24 rockets.

The current launch schedule for Friday is shown below and may also be downloaded from SystemsGo website at the following address: http://www.systemsgo.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-Houston-Flight-Schedule-4-17-18.pdf

Saturday, May 12, 2018
School Name / Teacher 1/1 Trans
Brazoswood HS
Dale Hobbs		 3
Channelview HS
Alan Stone		 3
Hardin-Jefferson HS
Mike Fogo		 2 1
Liberty HS
Matthew Williams		 1 1
Northstar HS
Byron Appelt		 1 2
SF Austin HS
Richard Hubbard		 10
Schools Launching             6
Totals 20 4
Total Rockets 24

Please remember that since there is public access to this event, there are registration tickets for order and those may be found on the SystemsGo website as well at this  link:  https://www.greateventseats.com/SystemsGo . They are FREE, but REQUIRED. There is a waiver for admission you will sign along with your admittance ticket. You can get them at the gate but it is strongly advised to do this online ahead of time so that you do not slow yourself or anyone else down getting onto the range. This could cause you and others to miss your intended launches.

I will post each days schedules in this blog. They can also be found in original format on the SystemsGo website Events page.

More event details will be available here after the completion of Friday’s event.

Pictures  will be available here in this blog and in Facebook albums for you to view at the end of each days launches, as well as during the day from Phil and SystemsGo on Facebook as well. Links to both our Facebook pages are below.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow

Unfortunately I only got a few screen grabs, and only one photo from a team member but I will post what I have.

https://www.facebook.com/SystemsGoEducation/

If you follow this program and like to view the launches, Rockets 2018  will have Livestream available at the Smith Point launches so you will be able to view them online at the following address: https://livestream.com/systemsgo.

If you have been to the Houston area launches in the past you may want to check out the SystemsGo website for information because this location is only in its second year for that area. Information and a map link are available.

More event details will be available here in upcoming days as events get closer. Daily reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will be posted during the events.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org . Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Hope to see you at the races, nope, but I will race you for a rocket!  #RideTheSky! #Launcher01 #ItISrocketScience #Rockets2018

I would like to  wish all the schools and students a picture perfect flight and recovery.

 

 

Rockets 2018-Saturday’s Report-End of Fredericksburg Launches

Sunday is usually the last day for rockets at Willow City, but not this year. Today, Saturday is the final day. This is because SystemsGo split the load more evenly between this launch and the upcoming one in Smith Point down in the Houston area. Now both days have 3 days.  Although we only had 7 schools today, there were 22 rockets on the schedule, and all but two launched. Of those last two, Kingwood aborted one of theirs on their own, and SystemsGo had to disqualify one of RL Turners because it did not meet specifications.

We had another day of fairly smooth launches, some were just how you want them with great flight, deployment of chutes and floating down nicely, while others great flights that returned as ballistic lawn darts, and then we had some short crazy flights as well. But all flew and all were recovered.

Recovery did well again this weekend with a 91% return rate for the weekend and 100% for Saturday.

Robert Deaver, SystemsGo team member, board member and past Mission Control staffer has been missing from the launch the last two years,  But today he did drop by for a visit and to watch the action with his new family, seen below.

After all the launches were  complete, the team stayed at Mission Control were they all enjoyed pizza and drinks as well as visiting as a thank you from SystemsGo for another great year. We all watched the sun go down over the launch pad and then called it a night and a good end to another season in Willow City.  It was a sentimental moment as well since this may be our last year here at Hillview Ranch. The program is looking for another launch home for next year.

Here are some photo of the group enjoying our time to relax.

  

This marks the end of another great year of  Fredericksburg Rockets 2018. It was a blast as usual, no pun intended. Rockets 2018 continues May 11-13 at Smith Point down by Anahuac, which is in the Houston area. There are a total of 15 schools and 56 rockets on the schedule. Livestream will be available there again as well.

After Anahuac then there is only the Goddard level launches  in New Mexico left which are coming up in late June. There is a fairly strong date, but I won’t be posting that until closer to time since they can still be subject to change at the Army’s need. I will keep everyone posted on that as information is available. Good luck to all those schools and safe travels when you go  both to Houston and White Sands New Mexico. For more information as usual check their website at www.systemsgo.org .

The following is a link to the album of pictures from Sunday’s launch. Have a look, you and your school rocket just might be in there.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow

Event details will be available here each day of any launch event. Daily reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will also be posted.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org .Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

#SystemsGo #Rockets2018 #FredericksburgEngineeringRocketProgram #Launcher01 #SystemsGoNewMexico #RideTheSky

Fredericksburg’s Engineering/Rocket Program-Rockets 2018 Willow City Launch Week Pre-Launch Update

Today is Wednesday, April 25, and the juniors are a day away from testing their vehicle at Stewart’s Hillview Ranch in Willow City at Rockets 2018. They will be launching on Thursday, but the time will be determined on site. Also, this year the larger class volume meant two teams and two rockets.

According to Mr. Matthes, Engineering Instructor, both teams finished both rockets on time this year. They were due by the end of class, last Thursday. Both teams made use of the after school hours requirement in order to finish, with a couple of students stretching that to midnight in order to complete the work.

As of Monday, both vehicles were described as being in good shape by Mr. Matthes, with the only issue still in play, attempting to lighten the weight in order to increase speed.

Aside from that, Mr. Matthes had this to say about the upcoming launch, ” I do not rubber stamp any rocket.  Failure is an option in the program as it is in life.  If the students have a rocket that passes inspection, goes to the pad and gets tested they are successful…but the rocket can still fail.  The existence of uncertainty is partly why the students are so invested in their rocket.  It is because it is their solution without guarantee of meeting the project’s objective.  They’ve poured their hearts into this project for five months and will get to see their ‘babies’ launch, just as parents hope to see the fruits of their parenting, without guarantees of outcome, launch their children into life.  This is an inherent part of research.  Paramount though is the fact that true failure only occurs if the process stops and lessons are not learned in the process.”

He also commented that he had seen GREAT looking rockets fail so he’s reticent about getting the students’ hopes up too much.  And on the flip side, I  have seen some rockets that I thought for sure would fall apart on the way down to the pad, and they amazed us all.

Flight Readiness Reviews(FRRs) were due by the end of class on yesterday, Tuesday. One team completed by the bell, but the other will be capping off at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

 Robert Sanchez and Esten Cooke with their vehicle.

 Pictured here are Ander Castaneda, Dawson Harkins, Cody Blohm, Deja Turkett, Cooper McDonald, Josh Handley, Gloria Burns, and Ethan Scott.

 Team members Robert Sanchez and Gloria Burns.

Pictures provided by Katie Burns.

Some juniors and seniors will have an opportunity to work at the launch pads during the event.  This affords them the chance to get experience prepping the rockets for flight and getting closer to the action. This is a privilege typically reserved only for seniors.

Unfortunately I was unable to obtain a picture and Team name from Team 1.

Pictured below is Team 2 with their rocket.

Meusebach (Team 2): Clockwise from #1 at the bottom. Cooper McDonald, Cody Blohm, Ander Castaneda, Deja Turkett, Josh Handley, Gloria Burns, Robert Zowie, Eduardo Memije, Ethan Scott, Dawson Harkins, and Rudy Avila show off their rocket just after completion last Wednesday evening, April 18th.

If you plan to attend any of this year’s launches please register for your attendance ticket at https://www.greateventseats.com/SystemsGo or they may be gotten at the gate. These are free but required for admittance to each site.  Reserving them ahead at the website is preferred to obtaining them at the gate because the latter slows entrance to the site and may result in you missing the viewing of your intended launch.

You may also view any of these launches on Livestream. That link is available on the SystemsGo or at the following link from them: Here is the link to the live stream again. https://livestream.com/systemsgo

The launch schedules for each venue are available at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ . I will post it here for each launch day as well. I want it to be as accurate as possible so I will refrain from posting schedules until the evening before each launch day in case there are any late changes.

Here is a PDF  map link and Google graphic map link to the site. These links are available on the SystemsGo web site as well.

Please watch the SystemsGo website, SystemsGo Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/SystemsGoEducation/posts/?ref=notif ,  SystemsGo Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/SystemsGoNews and this blog for upcoming information on these events.

This article is the fifth in a series, new for this school year ’17/’18 of updates that will follow the Fredericksburg STEM Academy/Rocket program. This school is a participant of the SystemsGo STEM program. This series of articles is intended to support, encourage, and challenge students in the program as they share their working status and accomplishments throughout the year in the program. These publications will be available for tags and re-posting.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org . Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

#RideTheSky #Rockets2018 #SystemsGo #FredricksburgEngineeringRocketProgram #Launcher01

Fredericksburg’s Engineering Rocket Program-Second Term Update #2 (February 16-April 13)

It is April and we have some catching up to do on the  FHS Engineering program. It has been two months since our last update and quite a bit has been happening on all levels.  Along with class work, launches start this month in Jal, New Mexico  on April 21 and Fredericksburg (Willow City) April 26-28 so time is becoming a factor for the Junior and senior groups.  Each group is working hard to meet their timelines. Rockets 2018 is the pinnacle event for the upper level groups, as their rocket projects are basically the final grade for the year.

The seniors have approximately 73 days until Redbird 19 is TENTATIVELY scheduled for testing at White Sands Missile Range, which is usually in the last week of June.  This date is still not a permanent date until the Army finalizes, closer to that time. Mr. Matthes will announce that date when it becomes readily available. Their completion date for  preliminary systems tests is usually two weeks before school ends. This would be May 18 which cuts them down to 59 days.

More on these groups and their current status reports will be later in the article.

Freshman participated in a field trip on March 1st, in which they visited Southwest Research Institute(SwRI), the Center for the Intrepid,  and the UTSA VIZlab.  At the Center for the Intrepid, the students were able to see biomedical equipment at work helping wounded Veterans in their recovery. Along with the engineering aspect of this, Mr. Matthes hoped that they took away a new respect for our military servicemen and women and the full extent of the sacrifices they make each day for our country’s safety.

Former FHS Engineering Alumni, Drake Horstman, was the students’ guide when they visited the UTSA VIZlab, toured the campus, engineering lab and community areas. During the visit, Drake, provided  entertainment and wisdom coupled with numerous stories about his experiences in the FHS Engineering Program. Inside the lab, the students were able to see several visual interaction devices.

At Southwest Research Institute, students learned technical information about engines, modifications and fuel efficiency. The content here was a little over their knowledge base,  and may have overwhelmed the students a little, according to Mr. Matthes. In spite of that, it was still a good visit for the students, and the coordinator at SwRI commented  about their behavior stating, “they are better than a lot of the college students who come through.”

These visits are designed to expose the students to different aspects in the engineering fields. The impressions they take from here will help them make decisions down the road on whether engineering is for them, and if so, help them determine a particular area of interest.

The Freshmen also participated in their first Critical Design Review (CDR). They were tasked with presenting solutions to fix the damaged launch tower for the Red Bird rockets. This gives them practice on presentation skills and feedback on designs for their project.

Mr. Matthes stated that, “the students may have felt “roasted” with constructive criticism and feedback. But, that they should know, that it is part of improvement and growth of design and not personal.” He mentioned that this was also discussed briefly at the end of the trip to SwRI, by the hosting engineer.

The sophomores have advanced well in the curriculum and are presently several weeks ahead of their  current deadlines. Their current focus is on dimensioning objects, denoting measurements and creating fabrication notes. Due to this, their proficiency has advanced well.

Mr. Matthes is quite impressed with the Juniors selection of a class name. Here is how he describes it,”The juniors named their class “Conatus” which translates from Latin, to impulse and means striving.  From a historical philosophy origin it relates to the nature of something to continue its existence.”

The pressure is on with an April 19th rocket completion date looming ever closer. The rocket must be completed one week prior to their April 26th launch, because after it is completed they must also complete a Flight Readiness Review which often uncovers errors and problems that must be resolved.  This week provides adequate time for those things to happen.

According to Mr. Matthes neither team has anything that quite resembles a rocket as of yet, but each is working through a pile of parts that arrived. Most were not ordered until the end of March which was quite late, but each group began working with tangible parts  the end of last week.

Team #2 decided to make use of Monday’s teacher in-service day, by putting in about four hours of work. Shown below from team #2 are clockwise starting from the bottom, Cooper McDonald, Gloria Burns, Ethan Scott, and Dawson Harkins as they take measurements off the back-end of the rocket and motor system.

Both teams do have a work in progress at this point.  According to Mr. Matthes, “Pressure makes diamonds and rockets.”

Incidentally, another incentive for each comes from SystemsGo. A flawless flight and perfect recovery may afford that team the chance to re-fly their vehicle with a different fuel grain in order to collect data for SystemsGo.

The miniature Teststand is an ongoing project for the juniors as well. They are using LabVIEW programming as a means to start ignition and measure thrust, as well as using 3D modeling in order to develop a unique physical Teststand model. The class is split into working groups of 3. According to Mr. Matthes, “They are on track to have this done by the end of school and I am excited to see what they come up with.”

Seniors are progressing well with Redbird 19, wind tunnel and the large Teststand development.

Construction is beginning on Redbird 19 now that parts are returning from Heartland Enterprises. According to Mr. Matthes the parts, “look beautiful, and most parts are in.” Now that parts are available there is a bullet list of accomplishments to be achieved including, overlaying the nose cone in fiberglass, creating a mold and then pouring the fuel grain, making a custom hose for the injection valve, testing  recovery chute deployment, integrating avionics into the vehicle, and Mr. Jenkins is in the process of manufacturing the payload.

Here Harrison Spisak, Bryce Erwin, and Sergio Walle are checking the fit of the injector, nozzle and retaining ring in their fuel grain liner.

Currently wind tunnel is well underway, as students are receiving and ordering parts. The program is nearing completion and the electronics used for the drag testing measurement has arrived. Hunter Smith, a SpaceX programmer at the McGregor facility has been assisting Rebecca Sechrist through a Skype session. He has been providing analysis and comprehension in areas he has already assisted, as well as a starting point from which to move ahead. According to Mr. Matthes, “The students are making headway but must begin to make a push in order to finish this outstanding design by summer.”

Deadlines are quickly evolving for Teststand, as the group’s progress here is steady but slow. They have installed a flow meter to directly measure Nitrous oxide. Load cells which measure thrust have been changed out and fuel grains have also been readied for testing.

The stand itself is nearing a test ready state. New to this year’s stand are changes in the injection system. The new system will allow more controls of the flow. A parent plate has been designed by students and fabricated by another local machine shop, Kager Industries,  which will hold a smaller injection disc allowing students the ability to change out the disc which controls the rate of flow. The plate can be installed as soon as the 0.05″ holes have been drilled through. Next, the LabVIEW program will be fully tested on the stand.  Afterwards, a cold flow test will be conducted in order to measure the oxidizer flow rate and determine if the size and pattern of holes in the new disc are correct. If the cold flow tests are successful, then hot fire tests can begin.

The Baby Bird Teststand is still on hold until further notice.

SystemsGo hosted a BBQ dinner event for the neighbors in Willow City. Seniors, Bryce Erwin and Sergio Walle, pictured below,  spoke at the event. Their purpose was to educate attendees about the educational process of the program and how it relates to the upcoming launches, as well as to share their own experiences in the program.

Additionally, Harrison Spisak and Corbin Smajstrala spoke to the Morning Rotary last month on similar subjects.

Mr. Matthes would personally like to thank all four of these young men for committing to these events and participating in them. In both cases, participants and SystmesGo staff commended them on their exceptional performances.

This article is the fourth for the 2017/2018 school year in a series of periodic updates that will follow the Fredericksburg Engineering/Rocket program. This school is a participant of the SystemsGo STEM program. This series of articles is intended to support and encourage students in the program as they share their working status and accomplishments throughout the year in the program. These publications will be available for tags and re-posting.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org . Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Second Term Update #1 (Dec. 22-Feb. 16)-Fredericksburg’s Engineering/Rocket Program

Technically, the fall term didn’t end until January 19, so we have a minor bit of finishing up to do on that semester, but at this point, January  is past and February is better than half through as well.  The spring program is  already building, therefore, we will finish off and shoot straight into the new semester and the new year, as there are big goals and events  for each class group.

This second semester puts the Engineering Program students’ learning to the test as they build rockets and prepare to launch them for Rockets 2018 and their end of class projects. There are still four class groups this semester as freshman through seniors continue course study and  strive  to complete their section of the program.

Both Freshman and Sophomore groups are new for this semester. Last semester’s groups will not return to the program until next fall. This will mean that the progress reports will seem a bit familiar as these new groups will be doing the same projects and learning tasks that last semester’s group did since they too are at the beginning point of the Freshman and Sophomore programs.

Freshmen comprise a group of 13, pictured below. In the front row: Davis Englert, Roan Hagel, Hayle Mayer, Michael Flores, Gerry Balderas, and Daisuke Kyan.

In the back row: Tyler Smedley, Karson Hager, Cade Terry, Sam O’Leary, Kris Ersch, Travis Klokker, and Carlotta Wilkinson.

 This was for fun, and is freshman doing something wacky!

The new Freshmen group is once again testing structures which they are building from cardboard and tape. They watched an engineering video on I-Beams after their first testing session. This enlightened their understanding of bending moments which they applied to their structures.  One of the groups changed their structure by rotating it 90 degrees in order to make it taller than it was wide, which resulted in the structure being the opposite of its original design as well as creating an almost 100% strength increase through the new orientation and heighth.  Mr. Matthes states that this was a “Lesson learned and applied.”

Below, the Freshmen show off their structures.

 Cade Terry, Travis Klokker,  Sam O’Leary    Hayle Mayer, Tyler Smedley, Daisuke Kyan Karson Hagel, Gerry Balderas, Roan Hager    Michael Flores, Carlotta Wilkinson, Kris Ersch, Davis Englert

Currently they are working on their post mission analysis on civil engineering, which is allowing them to  practice technical writing.

The freshmen have a field trip coming up on March 1. They will be visiting UTSA, Center for the Intrepid and Southwest Research Institute, all in San Antonio. A report and pictures will be presented in a future update.

The new sophomore group for this semester has 13 students,  11 pictured below.

Front row: Gabi Moreno, Manuel Enciso, Jarrett Beard, Tyler Malinak, and Jacob Hinterlach. Back row: Tony Martinez, Noah Stotz, Jowad Aysheh, Jack Fox, Troy Kneese, and Jabin Gipson. Not pictured are Jessen Stableford, and Landon Sparrow.

The sophomores are moving through their course studies on a little more fast-track than last semesters class. This has been initiated in order to further their studies in 3D modeling and printing this round so that they achieve a more significant introduction in that area. They are doing well according to Mr. Matthes and are already beginning AutoCAD. In the past weeks they have successfully completed geometry, multi-view drawings, and engineering lettering.

As of January 23, the first semester studies ended for the Juniors, and opened them up to work on their second semester project in which they are now immersed. This project is to design and develop a one pound payload in a Transonic vehicle to be launched on April 26, at Rockets 2018.  This means that their rocket must must be capable of breaking the speed of sound while carrying a one pound payload and remaining under 13,000 feet. The junior group is a large group of 22 students this year so they are unique in that they have been split into two groups, each responsible for their own rocket.

Mr. Matthes had this comment about the two groups, “I am excited to see them working diligently and proudly taking the endeavor as genuine separate groups.  The ownership of their rocket and being different from each other’s groups is already evident.  They have established their problem statements and are feverishly researching with many, many, many unknowns.  As the process goes on their significant dispersion of knowledge and integration with each other slowly but surely migrates to a fully integrated and cohesive design.”

Along with their rockets, the group has another project for the semester. This entails designing and developing a teststand for Estes Motors. These are the small motors used mostly to fly their Generation 1 through 3 rockets. The objective is to create a teststand that will operate using LabVIEW programming to control and monitor ignition, measure thrust, and display and record real-time data to a file.

Seniors are a busy group with four projects still in the works, including Redbird 19, Wind Tunnel, Teststand and Baby Bird Teststand.

On February 1, Redbird 19(RB19) underwent Critical Design Reviews (CDR) with SystemsGo personnel present, and NASA flight engineers participating by Skype. RB19 did well overall.  The Redbird 17 tank is being recycled as part of  the RB19 design and was successfully tested earlier, as shown below, but will be retested on Friday, Feb.16 after which they will be required to provide documentation to SystemsGo. The team is fully immersed in the development of RB19. They have contracted machine shops and begun providing them work. These include Kager Industries, Heartland Enterprises, and SRM. Other necessary parts are in the order process.

Corbin Smajstrla, Sergio Walle, Bryce Erwin, Pierce Vasquez, Evan Knapp, and Harrison Spisak prepare to test the RB17/19 tank.

Wind Tunnel also underwent CDRs  with NASA and SystemsGo on February 1. Unfortunately it was found to have some issues to resolve. According to Mr. Matthes, the group is, “adapting well to the unexpected queries which arose and are close to having them resolved at this point. ”

Teststand has several upcoming events in March. In mid March, they will be conducting cold flow tests in order to verify the students injection system. This tests the flow rate of oxidizer through the system.  Projected live ignition tests have been set for the end of March, and students have been given some solid dates in order to keep them on task to accomplish these.

Baby Bird Teststand is currently on hold. Students have a heavy work load to complete with the other projects. PVC and polypropylene tests will need to be completed on the large Teststand before work can resume on the Baby Bird Teststand.

This article is the Third for the 2017/2018 school year in a series of monthly updates that will follow the Fredericksburg Engineering/Rocket program. This school is a participant of the SystemsGo STEM program. This series of articles is intended to support and encourage students in the program as they share their working status and accomplishments throughout the year in the program. These publications will be available for tags and re-posting.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org . Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Fredericksburg Engineering Program Hosts the N.E.W.Y.O.U. Event for 4th through 8th Grade Students

The Fredericksburg Engineering Program will be hosting the N.E.W.Y.O.U (National Engineers Week Youth Outreach United) Event in participation with FISD Community Education. National Engineers Week will begin February 18th. The N.E.W.Y.O.U Event will be held the Saturday before on February 17th.
The event will be held at the Fredericksburg Middle School. This is the first time the FHS Engineering Program will host this event. The high school group has been working hard organizing this event in order to insure it will be a fun and educational time for all participants.
Join the FHS student mentors as they introduce you and your friends to engineering in fun group setting. You will learn while watching videos, playing games, completing challenges and winning prizes, including a door prize for each session.
Forth and fifth graders will attend the morning session, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The cost for this session is $29 and includes snacks, drinks and a shirt.
Sixth through eighth graders will attend the afternoon/evening session from 1:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The cost for this session is $49 and includes, snacks, drinks, dinner and a shirt.
***Please note that in order to receive your shirt, you must be registered by Feb. 13.

Look for more information in the newspaper and students of those grades should have brought home flyers in the past week. Look below for a copy of that flyer in case you missed it.

The Fredericksburg Engineering/Rocket Program hopes to see you there.

FLYER:

4th-5th and 6th-8th Graders!!!

Come hang out with high school engineering students while having fun playing games, completing challenges in groups with high school mentors, watching cool videos and learning about engineering.  Prizes abound with an awesome door prize for each session.  See details below!  Downloadable registration form may be found at the bottom or call Community Education at (830)997-7182.

New You Flyer JPEG.JPG

Awards Day for the Red Bird #18 2017Alumni

Today, Friday, December 22, 2017 at 10:30 in Mr. Matthes’ classroom,  FHS Engineering Class of 2017 was presented with their banner for a successful flight of the Red Bird #18 at White Sands Missile Range last summer.

They received the Goddard Level Newton Award from SystemsGo. The award was presented to them by Scott Netherland, Executive Director of SystemsGo.


Photographed (right to left): Colby Marthaller, Sterling Weatherford, Matthew Dulaney, Ian Kendrick, Hannah Boubel, Cody Pruett, Joseph Sanchez, Ricky Robles, Scott Netherland, and Payton Carroll.

The banner will be displayed at the FHS campus at a later date.

Congratulations to these students on their achievement as well as future endeavours.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org . Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

2017/2018 Fall Session Hi Lights Wrap Up for Fredericksburg’s Engineering/Rocket Program-(Nov. 10-Dec. 22)

Next Friday, December 22, the Fredericksburg High School Engineering/Rocket Program will dismiss for Christmas break. When they do, five weeks will have passed since the last update on their program. This is a busy group, and there is plenty to report on their learning and progress as we wrap up the fall semester.

The Freshman have been learning about  production/manufacturing engineering  and have recently completed their project which was an orange juice manufacturing factory design.  The class split into working groups of four because of the complexity of the problem. Their product goal for the plant was to take raw material and produce packaged juice in palletized product bundles ready for sale. According to Mr. Matthes, “It was a successful endeavor with lots of different results when it came to the challenging research it required.”

On Friday, December 15,  they presented their latest project over engineering fluidity.  Each student was expected to work independently to create new launch lugs for the senior level rocket. Their new lug designs need to be more aerodynamic than the current lugs.  Each student was able to show what they were capable of on their own, instead of having the co-dependency of fellow students. This solo venture challenged them to create a multiview drawing of their own new design, as well as featuring their understanding of units of measurement and how they all work together, something that will be of great significance for their final project in the future, which is to research the math and then design a hybrid rocket motor.   A  highly significant amount of math and even more units will  require their careful attention in that upcoming project . What they are learning as they work through this propulsion/aerospace problem will become relevant to them again when they begin their junior studies in 19 months. Therefore it is an important study in which to end the course.

Just to remind everyone, the Sophomore students are still working in a self paced manner in this year’s class. Therefore a good growth mark for them in their class progress  is  3D printing, which they have recently begun.  They have also shown marked achievement in their Autocad,  Dimensioning and Isometric drawing skills. In part this is due to their receptiveness to all the constructive feedback.

Luke Duderstadt working on Autocad.

“They have advanced tremendously in their attention to detail, ability to see things with greater special awareness, and pride in workmanship.  The transformation has been fun to witness,” states Mr. Matthes.

LabVIEW programming is an important focus for the juniors. At this point, Mr. Matthes says it is too early to tell their final success in this area, but so far, they are progressing well.

Fluids and aerodynamic drag have been the focus of their studies related to rockets these past five weeks. After learning these new skills, they were able to test them on the design and development of their Generation 3 rockets. In order to do this, they had to create a rocket that was stable with exactly a ‘margin’ of 1 while reaching 1800 feet in RockSim simulation and design software. Students were able to launch their actual Gen 3 rockets on Friday, Dec. 15 after they had in class rocket presentations and evaluations that morning. Additionally they were further challenged with a short deadline in which to create these rockets. They met this head on and were ready for presentations.

“It was collectively the best group of Gen 3 flights I have seen in years,” reports  Mr. Matthes.

Bradley Plaza and Carl Wilger prepare to launch their Generation 3 rocket.

Jabin Gipson and Rudy Avila model their Generation 3 rocket on launch day.

They will detail the many lessons they learned, including  results from mistakes in design, construction, evaluation process, and the significance of attention to detail in their post mission analysis (PMA). As they begin their second semester project, all these lessons will be critical learning tools in the success of this larger rocket.

Mr. Matthes reported, ” I was thoroughly impressed with all of them.  It was the kind of work ethic that will make their senior year a success if they can manage to keep up the motivation and focus.”

Critical design reviews (CDR) are the main focus for seniors on all four of their projects, which include the Red Bird #19 Rocket, a wind tunnel, the  NASA large motor test stand, and the Small HyperTek interface test stand, known as Baby Bird. Currently the group is running short on time their schedules and task lists are not reflecting all that they should. There is a possibility that they are either not aware of all that they have missed, or they are really close to being ready. Mr. Matthes is unsure at this point which one it is.

Pictured here is the seniors’ flow straightener prototype for their wind tunnel. It was 3D printed on a Makerbot.

They are scheduled to hold a preliminary design review with alumni at 10:00 on Wednesday, January 10th, here in the classroom. A full CDR will be due at the end of January.

“One potential reality is that if it becomes evident there is not enough time for everything, some project(s) may require postponing.  We are hoping for the best,”  states Mr. Matthes.

On Friday, December 22, 2017 at 10:30 in Mr. Matthes’ classroom,  last year’s alumni will be presented with their banner for flying the Red Bird #18 at White Sands Missile Range.  Seniors will have a question and answer session with alumni  to share experiences and receive advice.

At 7:00 p.m. also on Friday the 22nd, all alumni of the Fredericksburg Aeroscience/Engineering program are invited to come to Hondo’s and join Mr. Williams and Mr. Matthes for visiting over dinner and drinks.  It will be casual, come and go as you like bringing significant others and friends as desired.

Mr. Matthes reminds all program students, “In January, the spring program begins and deadlines and target dates for their projects become highly important in order to meet projected launch dates.”

NEW YOU (National Engineers Week Youth Outreach United) continues its progress in planning the 4th-8th grade engineering outreach event to be held on February 17th.  Look for more in the newspaper and students of those grades bring home flyers in January.

 This article is the Third for the 2017/2018 school year in a series of monthly updates that will follow the Fredericksburg Engineering/Rocket program. This school is a participant of the SystemsGo STEM program. This series of articles is intended to support and encourage students in the program as they share their working status and accomplishments throughout the year in the program. These publications will be available for tags and re-posting.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org . Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.