My work in rocketry has given me the opportunity to take engineering concepts from the classroom and turn them into real hardware. Through hands-on projects, I’ve worked with composite manufacturing, filament winding, custom tooling, epoxy systems, and rocket structures, including designing and fabricating components from the ground up. 

I’ve also been involved in researching composite motor case design and manufacturing, exploring how material selection, winding techniques, and structural requirements come together in aerospace applications. What I enjoy most about rocketry is the combination of design, manufacturing, testing, and problem-solving that comes with building something that actually has to work.

Designed and fabricated a custom silicone mandrel for a filament-wound rocket nosecone, then used the XWinder system to manufacture the composite structure. I worked with multiple fiber materials, including carbon fiber, and applied general-purpose epoxy resin during the winding process. 

This project provided hands-on experience with composite manufacturing, custom tooling, filament winding, fiber handling, and epoxy processing while taking a nosecone from a custom mandrel design to a finished composite component.