The “Student Rocket” project just keeps on growing. This time, the team members have conquered the academic world.
On June 24, 2020, three members of the “Student Rocket” team defended their B. Sc. theses to the Faculty of Physics and Technology, Oles Honchar Dnipro National University. “Student Rocket” is a project of the Noosphere Engineering School and Dual Center Space.
For the Faculty of Physics and Technology, these theses became the first in some time to see practical implementation. The students dedicated their theses to the design and engineering of ultralight (lift height from 7,000 to 20,000m) vehicle components and construction. They also paid special attention to the production process. In presenting their achievements, the students were tremendously proud to demonstrate actual vehicles and launch videos recorded from the launch pad.
The three newly minted Bachelors are Oleksandr Dobrodomov, Artem Shvets and Oleksiy Tuban, who together form the backbone of the “Student Rocket” team.
Oleksandr Dobrodomov shares his experience at the Noosphere Engineering School and his Bachelor’s project:
“I started my path in the Engineering School almost three years ago. At first I worked on a project to modernize the HobbyMat MD65 machine, and then I joined the ‘Student Rocket’ team. It was only natural for me that we decided to continue work on this project within the framework of our graduation theses. The idea was to show the complete production сycle of an ultralight vehicle, so each of us worked to focus on a specific bay. Mine was the parachute bay.
“I think it is safe to say that our projects were first of their kind at our faculty. No wonder we earned the highest marks. And we are very grateful to Dual Center Space, Noosphere Engineering School, and ‘Association Noosphere’. We are also personally grateful to Vadym Solntsev, our ‘Student Rocket’ mentor, for his support and contribution to our success”.
Artem Shvets also shares:
“I joined the ‘Student Rocket’ team a year and a half ago. While working on the project, I gained additional knowledge and, more importantly, I have acquired practical skills. I was involved in the design and engineering of the engine bay, and decided to explore the subject more completely in my thesis.”
Oleksiy Tuban also stresses the importance of practical experience:
“I have been involved in Engineering School projects for a year now. I developed the payload equipment bay for the student rocket, and also attended courses on Ansys and SolidWorks. Thanks to that, I gained practical skills and now I can use this experience to solve real production tasks. Unfortunately, practical experience is difficult to gain through standard university education.”
After graduation all three young engineers received Bachelor’s degrees in aerospace engineering. They will all continue their education with the Master’s program in spacecraft manufacturing. And, of course, they will continue working with “Student Rocket” and the ultimate goal to produce a rocket with a lift height of 100km.
Here at Noosphere, we believe that this commencement is not only a great achievement, but also an indicator of the success of dual education programs, which Noosphere founded in 2019. Max Polyakov, Noosphere’s co-founder says: “Step by step we are building an engineering education ecosystem in Ukraine. We motivate students to create space startups and present them through the Star Track tournament. We give them the opportunity to bring ideas to life and gain practical experience while designing, engineering and testing student rockets and managing their launches. We encourage them to learn new technologies and instruments through various Engineering School projects and programs. Graduate projects with practical applications are a part of the ecosystem. An ecosystem aimed at modernizing engineering education in Ukraine.”