NJIT Student Bottle Rockets Soar Where No Highlander Has Gone Before

Mibrar Reza and Adam Tracy — following the spirit of Verne, von Braun, NASA and Musk — were the first-place winners of this semester's inaugural NJIT Makerspace Soda Bottle Rocket Competition, charting unexplored regions of Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium with water-powered flights of 227 and 250 feet, respectively.

The contest was a fun and easy way for 24 student teams to learn about the Makerspace, which fully opened its second phase this semester and has machines and gadgets to amaze and educate any tech-minded visitor.

Reza represented the upper classes and won a $200 gift card for his rocket, Poseidon, the Greek god of the seas. The junior mechanical engineering major from Belleville said his childhood dream was to be a pilot, stopped by a vision issue, but now he's interested in learning about drones. Tracy, a first-year student from Chatham also studying mechanical engineering, won the same prize for his rocket named for coordinates — 49° 37' 57" North, 100° 11' '01" East — which he said flew well thanks to designing with a video game simulator, plus some lucky winds.

All rockets launched from the Southeast corner of the field, heading Northwest, at a 45 degree angle with 45 pounds per square inch of pressure. Students had several opportunities for test flights in the days before the contest.

The award for best design went to a team with a flight of 165 feet. "We just wanted to have fun," said Haris Ahmed, a junior mechanical engineering student from Jersey City. His team 3D-printed a clamp to hold their rocket's tail fins stable, but they made it too heavy which shortened the excursion. They used their $100 prize, split four ways, for a celebratory meal.

Runner-up awards of $100 each went to team Apple, with Ricky Palaguachi and Albert Dorman Honors College student Michael Brzostek, along with Team Fresh by Rafael Abreu.

Makerspace manager Justin Suriano said the idea for the competition came from Dan Brateris, director of experiential learning, who led a similar event in his previous role at Rowan University. "It gets everyone outside and some of the rockets go incredible distances if you create them correctly," Suriano said. If launched at 80 pounds per square inch, a rocket could probably reach the tennis center at the Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Facility, he said, smiling.

The light-hearted nature of the competition came with a serious purpose.

"The idea is to have a very approachable project that also utilizes every machine that we are training people on initially. That's hand tools, laser cutting and 3D printing. This project requires a little bit of each of them to get your rocket off the ground. It's project-based learning," Suriano explained.

All three winners said they had fun, learned about the Makerspace tools and are looking forward to participating in the next challenge.

Suriano said there will be similar events in the near future that might last all semester rather than just one afternoon.

Also on the Makerspace agenda are additional training courses in subjects such as metrology and welding. Advanced 3D-printing, soldering and woodworking may also be offered. A speaker series is also underway. The first topic, held Oct. 14, was a presentation by NJIT start-up expert Will Lutz on how to grow a new technology business.