Tag: Rebecca Sechrist

Fredericksburg’s Engineering Rocket Program-Pre-Launch Week Red Bird #19 Update

Red Bird #19 is scheduled for testing at White Sands Missile Range(WSMR) next Friday, June 22. This marks the last big event for Rockets 2018 and the Fredericksburg STEM Academy for this season.

These are the Goddard level rockets, which are the culmination of all the skills the students have learned throughout their years in the STEM program. This marks the final senior project for those schools that participate in this level of the SystemsGo program.

As of today, June 15, the Fredericksburg Engineering Red Bird #19 rocket team is due to pick up the vehicle from SRM tomorrow,  now that the welding is completed. The team still has to complete the assembly of the motor and then integrate it, as well as the,  injector valve, payload, and parachutes.  They will be attempting to finish the FRR tonight. In spite of the remaining tasks they are on schedule to make their launch at WSMR.

Red Bird #19 has an 8 inch diameter and is 25 feet long. The team outsourced the payload to the district IT employee and former FMS science teacher, Keith Jenkins. He created a sensor for the vehicle that will measure methane levels at the time of nose cone deployment.

When asked about the rocket’s expectations, Harrison Spisak stated, “My expectations are about 65,00 feet, but after NASA evaluated it they estimated 102,000.” Therefore that is the hopeful estimate if all goes perfectly.

Today, team members, Joey Leal and Harrison Spisak were working on the FRR, and T-1 briefing as seen in the photos below.

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Here the nose cone and injection system also await integration.

Here Joey Leal checks on the rockets progress at SRM machine shop.

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Harrison Spisak’s father will be hauling the rocket on his trailer to White Sands for the team.

Pictured here is this year’s Red Bird #19 Team:  Back Row:  Harrison Spisak, Jacob Wienecke, Evan Knapp, Bryce Erwin, Sergio Walle. Front Row:  Corbin Smajstrla, Rebecca Sechrist, Pierce Vasquez, Joey Leal.  Not pictured in the seniors picture was Chris Calzada.

Launches are scheduled for June 22nd and June 23rd, with a contingency day on the 24th if needed. The team will travel out to WSMR on Wednesday, June 20th, and back home again on the 23rd.

There are 5 schools scheduled to launch 6  rockets. These schools include:

  • Alamo Heights
  • Anahuac
  • Booker T. Washington
  • Brazoswood
  • Fredericksburg
  • Union Grove

The current launch schedule is as follows:

  • Wednesday, June 2oth          Travel Day
  • Thursday, June 21st              T-1 and Site Set up/Rocket Prep at WC- 50
  • Friday, June 22rd                   Launch Day One (Four Rockets-Fredericksburg,  Brazoswood, Booker T., Anahuac)
  • Saturday, June 23rd              Launch Day Two (Two Rockets–Union Grove, Alamo Heights)
  • Sunday, June 24th                 Contingency Day/ Travel Day
  • Monday, June 25th                Travel Day if needed

This article is the eighth 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.

#Rockets2018 #SystemsGo #FredricksburgSTEMAcademy #Launcher01 #RideTheSky

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.

2017/2018 Fredericksburg’s Engineering/Rocket Program-September Hi Lights

The new school year is three weeks into session and with it, the Fredericksburg High School Engineering Program has begun working toward new goals.

This year (Fall semester) there are actually classes representing each grade level. This is different from last year in that there were two classes of Freshman in the fall and two classes of Sophomores in the spring. There will be a class of 12 Freshman  in the fall and another class of 12 in the spring, and a class of 16 Sophomores in the fall and another class of 12 in the spring.

The Freshman classes began by learning about the design and development loop. This is important because it gives them an understanding on how industry approaches problems in order to develop new innovation. Leadership and teamwork have been a strong topic of class discussion as well as exercises to put these traits into practice. This week in class they are testing cardboard structures they have built as part of the structural project part of their class.

  Pictured: Kyle Kuhlman, Andrew Kendrick, and Gavin West.

   Pictured: Luke Tucker, Benji Robles, and Kolby Fryburger.

  Pictured: Paige Guzy, Emily Ma, Evertt Borton.

 Pictured: Nehemiah Cabral, Sadie Eidson, and Eli Rode.

  Here the whole class shows off their cardboard structures for testing.

Sadie Eidson with an unofficial test of her structure post ‘real’ testing while Gavin West looks on awaiting collapse without satisfaction.

Pictured here is this semester’s Freshman class: Back Row: Kolby Fryburger, Luke Tucker, Everett Borton, Gavin West, Nehemiah Cabral, Benji Robles. Front Row:  Eli Rode, Andrew Kendrick, Kyle Kuhlman, Sadie Eidson, Paige Guzy, Emily Ma.

Mr. Matthes reports, “They are doing very well.”

Sophomores are practicing drawing multi-views by hand. Students are able to work at their own pace this year, as long as they meet scheduled deadlines on assignments. This allows for those that learn at a faster pace to advance in the curriculum a little sooner. It should also allow them to have more time to become proficient on 3D modeling which will be a skill they will need as they move up in future classes. Soon they will begin the basics of drawing  on AutoCAD. Due to the individual pacing, one student was able to  begin AutoCAD yesterday.

Pictured here is this semester’s Sophomore class: Back Row: Noah Downey; Tommy Johnson, Gavin Eckert, Lane Wallendorf, Ryan Scroggie, Landon West, Clay Crouse. Front Row: Dalton Waters, Blake Boubel, Ryan Davis, Luke Duderstadt, Ryan Majors, Chad Braden, Gerry Balderas. Not Pictured here are Josephine Shaw and Alek Vasquez.

Junior  and Senior classes will encompass both semesters as one class group each. There are 22 Juniors in the program and 10 Seniors.

Due to the accelerated class schedule implemented at FHS last year, most one year courses are now accomplished in one semester. Because of this, the Junior year course study is actually two classes in one spread out over both semesters. Class time is currently split between two courses of study. In the first half of class they are beginning the basics of hybrid rocket propulsion and the book learning of the math to model it. In the second half of the class, they have researched advanced technology and dimensional analysis.

According to Mr. Matthes, “Many of them reflected afterward that they have a better understanding of math, how to work with units, what the units mean, and how the math has meaning and can be worked like a puzzle.  They are very excited and extremely sharp.  They work effectively as a group and seem to have great chemistry together.”

Pictured here is this year’s Junior class: Back Row:  Jabin Gipson, Cooper McDonald, Ander Castaneda, Gabe Voorhees, Jose Escalante, Clay Ellebracht, Dawson Harkins. Middle Row: Jana Brockmann, Robert Sanchez, Esten Cooke, Gloria Burns, Carl Wilger, Nicholas Rodriguez, Lucio Castro, Cody Blohm. Front Row:  Eduardo Memije, Robert Zowie, Brad Plaza, Ethan Scott, Deja Turkett, Rudy Avila, Josh Handley.

The Seniors are a busy and ambitious group this year. They have taken on four large endeavors including: 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.

The Red Bird #19 will actually be a modified version of the Red Bird #17 from two years ago which did not leave the rail due to the injection failing. They will be rebuilding the propulsion and injection systems in order to correct the past problems with the rocket that kept it from launching in 2016.  –Small editorial comment here: As we have seen with other schools in past years at WSMR, this does not mean an easy fix. Quite often trying to correctly discern and correct another team’s issues on an unsuccessful vehicle can be harder than starting from scratch. It will be interesting to follow them and see what they find and how these new modifications affect this year’s flight test at WSMR.  FHS Engineering Project Leadership for Red Bird #19 is Chief Engineer, Harrison Spisak, and Project Manager, Bryce Erwin.

The Wind Tunnel is new for this year. This device is for testing drag on an object. To do this, the system uses a fan to create artificial wind which is forced over the object to create a drag.  FHS Engineering Project Leadership for the wind tunnel is Chief Engineer, Pierce Vasquez, and Project Manager,Rebecca Sechrist.

Testing on Baby Bird, the Hypertek test stand continues this year.  The purpose of this test stand, as highlighted in the last year’s updates, is to test a fuel grain system designed and developed by the students to interface with the hypertek injector and tank. Original plans were that three successful tests on this test stand would result in the opportunity for the seniors in the Fredericksburg Engineering Program to fly a new Hybrid student developed rocket at Willow City. This year’s team is continuing testing and development for this goal.  FHS Engineering Project Leadership for this test stand is Chief Engineer, Evan Knapp, and Project Manager, Sergio Walle.

Testing also continues on the NASA Test stand for large motors. Even though there is no new grant from NASA this year, there are plenty of materials  acquired from last year’s grant to continue testing.  FHS Engineering Project Leadership for this test stand is Chief Engineer, Joey Leal, and Project Manager, Corbin Smajstrla.

Mr. Matthes commented about this year’s seniors, “The group, already has plans set to come in this weekend to begin their endeavors.  They seem both excited about the projects and motivated to accomplish them.”

Last school year the program implemented a Senior out of class work schedule. Students signed a contract requiring them to commit to a set amount of overtime/after class work time in order to meet all deadlines and complete their rocket/projects for the year. The group is currently establishing a working schedule in order to implement these hours.  

Pictured here is this year’s Senior class: Back Row:  Harrison Spisak, Jacob Wienecke, Evan Knapp, Bryce Erwin, Sergio Walle. Front Row:  Corbin Smajstrla, Rebecca Sechrist, Pierce Vasquez, Joey Leal.  Not pictured in the seniors picture was Chris Calzada.

You may have seen the following information on a flyer your Engineering student brought home inviting you to the FHS open house  that was held on Monday, September 11. If you no longer have it or were not able to attend, Mr. Matthes has asked that you take note of the following date and time for:

FHS Engineering Night

SAVE THE DATE:

When: Monday,  SEPTEMBER 25TH, 6:00PM

Why:  Learn about the nationally recognized FHS Engineering/Rocket Program

Who:  Anyone – tell other parents and your friends, even if they aren’t in the program until next semester or aren’t a part of it yet. It is available to interested and current students as well as parents and interested community members.

Where:  Auditorium, plan on sitting up front for an “A”. Address is 1107 S. Highway 16

What:  Information/Order forms on Polos, t-shirts, decals and lanyards.

Including: Program objectives, overview of classes, media, and special guest alumni via Skype.

Follow Us, the FHS Engineering Program

You and your student are also invited to use the forms of media communication listed below to receive information and updates on all things Engineering.

The first is REMIND, (a text format) where you will find event notifications, updates, organizational coordination, and brief positive news provided on the program.

Text to 81010 the message @fhseng2021 for freshman Principles of Applied Engineering class

Text to 81010 the message @fhseng2020 for sophomores Engineering Design and Presentation 1

Text to 81010 the message @fhseng2019 junior Engineering Design and Presentation 2

Text to 81010 the message @fhseng2018 seniors Engineering Design & Problem Solving, Scientific Research and Design

Mr. Matthes sincerely hopes that students and parents will more actively follow and invest in the Engineering Program here at FHS.  One method to help with this is providing updates related to engineering and our Engineering Program through social media.  These will contain postings related to student activities as well as industry activity.  Familiarity with current events and current research in industry is a major source of inspiration and exposure to potential future endeavors.

  

fhseng

https://www.instagram.com/fhseng/?hl=en

       

The entire Engineering Program was invited to a movie night at the  engineering classroom, Wednesday evening, September 13 at 7:00 p.m. They viewed the movie the Matrix. Mr. Matthes  believed that a correlation between the students and the movie characters could be drawn and that could be beneficial to them. “It is my hope they recognize the metaphor for their own lives and begin to believe in themselves as I believe them, as Morpheus believes in Neo.” About 20 were able to attend.
 This article is the first  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.