A young engineer from Torrumbarry has helped launch an RMIT University rocketry team onto the world stage.

Team lead Freddy Mcloughlan steered the student-run club to multiple awards at one of the world's largest university rocket competitions in the United States recently.

The team competed in the International Rocket Engineering Competition in Midland, Texas, where more than 150 university teams from around the world designed, built and launched rockets in a range of categories.

As team lead, Mr Mcloughlan oversaw the design, construction and testing of the student-built rocket, which took about nine months to complete and was designed and built entirely by students from a range of engineering disciplines.

The team entered the demanding 10,000-foot Student Researched and Designed Hybrid category, requiring students to develop their own hybrid rocket motor.

Mr Mcloughlan said it was the team's first time competing in the category with a motor they had designed and built themselves.

"We came second in our category and received another three awards, which was the most awards won by any team at the competition," he said.

The rocket was designed, built and tested by about 50 students from engineering disciplines including aerospace, mechanical, electrical and software engineering.

"It's very student-driven, so we manage our own budget, do our own designs, carry out our own testing and launch our own rockets," Mr Mcloughlan said.

Despite arriving in Texas primed and ready to go, the team ran into a series of unexpected hurdles — a fuel leak triggered by American fittings they'd had no opportunity to test back home in Australia, compounded by fierce winds and storms that pushed back launch schedules.

When conditions finally cleared on the final launch day, the team successfully launched its rocket to about 4500 feet before safely recovering it undamaged.

"We didn't quite get the thrust we wanted, but we recovered the rocket, and it didn't receive any damage at all. We got full points for recovery," Mr Mcloughlan said.

Beyond the competition itself, Mr Mcloughlan was keen to inspire the next generation, urging young Australians with a passion for space and engineering to back themselves and explore the expanding opportunities on offer right here at home.

"The opportunities in space are incredible in Australia at the moment," he said.

"If you're keen, and you try hard enough, it's more than achievable."

Mr Mcloughlan said the experience was unlike anything else and the achievement reflected the dedication of the entire team.

"Nothing compares to leading a team of passionate students into the Texan oilfields with a rocket we built ourselves to compete against the best teams in the world, demonstrating our skill in front of companies like SpaceX and NASA,“ he said.

"This could not have been done without the utmost effort and commitment from the entire team.“

The RMIT team's sights are already set on the Australian Universities Rocket Competition in September, as the group presses ahead with its ambitious long-term goal: launching a fully student-built rocket to the very edge of space.

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Wednesday, 1st November 2028

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