Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
School of Engineering
Morgan State University
Title
Inspiring Student’s Interest in Stem Study Through Engagement in Rocketry Research and Activities
Synopsis
This paper discusses the development of a rocketry program at Morgan State University (MSU), involving students in designing and building rockets. It is the first rocket research program at an HBCU in the country, supported by BASE 11 Foundation since 2020. Although the Covid-19 pandemic significantly affected the progress of the program, the MSU rocketry team still made good progress in engaging students in rocket design and related activities. Due to the pandemic impact, the first milestone of the program has been modified to build a more powerful Liquid Propellant Rocket (LPR) and launch it to an apogee of 50,000 feet by the spring of next year, from the original plan of an apogee of 13,000 feet about two years ago. The program has engaged about 20 graduate and undergraduate students in this applied research related to rocket design and rocket launching. These activities have inspired the student’s interest in STEM study and attracted not only MSU students but also summer exchange students from other Maryland institutions supported by the Maryland Space Program Consortium. The students also launched the solid-fuel rocket twice in the past two years as rocket launch practice.