GCU Rocketry Society blast off in Queens Park
At the start of October, the GCU Rocketry Society made their way over to Queen's Park to launch the seven rockets they had built for a fresher's event.
We spoke to Archie Simmers-Clarke, a mechanical engineer master's student and president of the rocketry society, to get the full scoop.
Enough waiting... let's launch into it!
Q. "First off, what made you join the Rocketry Society in the first place?"
A. "I came from City of Glasgow college as a direct entry student in 3rd year, and there were not a lot of technical student societies that I could join. So, when I joined GCU in 3rd year, I just joined all the technical ones!
"There's racing, robotics, and rocketry, and I think I just enjoyed rocketry more. Now, I'm thinking of it as not just a career thing, but also a hobby."
Q. "Now, tell me about the launch"
A. “Overall, it went really well! There were 6 rockets that were successful, the 7th kind of went into the ground. The event was really made for 1st and 2nd years and new people joining, as most people haven’t ever made a rocket. So, if people join the rocketry society it’s a good idea to have you make a rocket.
"They’re pretty small actually, roughly 30 centimetres each so about a ruler big, and they have a tiny explosive in it, so they only went around 100 meters high. The biggest thing about it is that this will be a reoccurring event every year. Even when I’ll be an alumnus, I’ll still come in and help out with the rockets and all the less exciting stuff like setting up the event and making sure we’re actually allowed to go to a park and launch rockets in the first place.
"Most of it was testing general systems of what we can do. So, for a long time, it was me going back and forth with NES events (National Events Scotland) and Glasgow City Council to get permission to go to their park and launch it. It took a while checking insurance and making sure that works. It was nice and sunny in Queen’s Park that day, so it all worked out great.”
You could even say that the event was a blast!
Q. "How long did it take you to build them?"
A. "Probably about an hour, maybe two. It’s a little kit, you could give it to a little kid and it would take them a while, but they’d still be able to assemble it. Hobby rocketry is very expensive; it’s not really something that’s easy to get into.
"You need a license to buy the rocket motors, which are basically explosives, and you need quite a lot of money to buy the rockets themselves. So, it was a way to get people in at no cost, and for them to launch their first rocket.
"I remember when I was going about testing different kits, I spent a good amount of my own money just testing what’s fun to launch? What works? What doesn’t work? It’s a rocketry society; there’s no reason not to have rockets."
Q. "What would you say to someone that's thinking about joining the society?"
A. "It’s not as hard as it looks. People think ‘it’s rocketry it’s going to be too hard for me’. I remember talking to a few people about it and they didn’t know anything about it. There are so many layers to the society, if you don’t want to do complex and crazy maths and be sat at a computer and whatnot, you don’t have to.
"Anyone can build a rocket, if you want to take it to the next level and understand how that rocket flies, then it gets hard. But, building a rocket, there’s always going to be people needed to help build, help fiberglass stuff, do anything. Overall, it’s just not as hard as it looks. I think that’s the biggest thing."
Exactly right Archie, it's not like its rocket science or anything! Oh wait...
Q. "Who is it that's in the society?"
A. "Most people in rocketry are mechanical engineers, but really any engineer is fine. I think because it's also hobby level rocketry, we've even got a pharmacology guy. It's just a fun hobby, so it doesn't have to all be engineers."
Q. "What's the plans for the future of GCU rocketry?"
A. "One of the biggest things we're planning is having people on an internal competition. We're going to build bigger rockets at next year's freshers' event, launch those, so next year when we come to the competition, everyone's already made their rockets.
"I think it'll be a good and fun contest."
It's not just current students that benefit from the rocketry society; the Former Students team were also invited back to the Prescott Hill Climb this year as part of the Prescott Engineering & Innovation Festival.
By Olivia Bowen