2009-10 CDR posted
Tuesday, January 20 — Ben Chociej
The 2009-10 Vanderbilt USLI Comprehensive Design Review has been posted. You can access the various documents here.
completed rocket photos!
Monday, January 19 — Ben Chociej
Finally! The photos of the completed rocket are now posted. You can also see a quick tour of the aerospace shop. Check them out in the gallery.
a brief winter update
Thursday, January 14 — Ben Chociej
Apologies for the slow progress and lack of news; we didn't work much over winter break. Over in the gallery is a quick photo update.
static firing success!
Thursday, December 17 — Ben Chociej
We got a chance to static fire two Cesaroni Pro38 G79 motors today. We got some good data, which we'll be processing soon. For now, enjoy the short video!
a busy ten days!
Thursday, December 17 — Ben Chociej
We've been plenty busy since the last update! The rockets are coming along nicely, and the static testing will begin very soon. Without further ado, head on over to the gallery to check out the photos!
work day update
Monday, December 7 — Ben Chociej
Just a few quick updates since yesterday's post.
First and most exciting, the first two Dyna-Wind body tubes arrived today after a long wait due to manufacturing delays. Here they are:
Second, a quick shot of the completed electronics bay (albeit without any electronics inside):
And finally, here's the first batch of the carbon fiber composite material for the fins. It's not quite rigid enough for our needs at 2-ply, so we'll be redoing it in 3-ply. It's also got too many imperfections, so we'll be refining the process for a smoother surface as well.
There are a few more images over on the media page. Check 'em out!
a productive saturday
Sunday, December 6 — Ben Chociej
We had a very successful work day in the lab yesterday. Head over to the media page to check out the rest of the pictures!
preliminary design review posted
Friday, December 4 — Ben Chociej
We're happy to announce that the 2009-10 USLI Project Proposal and Preliminary Design Review have been posted to the documents page. Head on over to check them out!
two club members now level 2 certified
Thursday, October 8 — Professor A. V. Anilkumar
The Vanderbilt University Student Launch Initiative (VUSLI) is proud to announce that two of its members, James Board and Ben Chociej, have been Level 2 certified by the National Association of Rocketry and the Tripoli Rocketry Association, respectively. Level 2 certification requires both a rigorous written examination on safety rules and regulations as well as a practical flight and recovery test. Having certification allows members to launch up to L-Class motors (5,120.00 N·s).
These accomplishments ensure that VUSLI has student leaders to assist Safety Officer Robin Midgett during high powered rocket launches. VUSLI will be continuing its efforts to seek certification for junior members of the organization in order to maintain its commitment to safety.
new website design up and running!
Monday, August 24 — Ben Chociej
Now that we're back into the swing of things — and the Vanderbilt webserver is back up and running smoothly — we're getting ready to transition the USLI website for this year's new project. Hopefully the new website design looks good. Feel free to give us some feedback! Check back soon for more updates!
2009-10 project summary
Thermoelectric Heat Recovery in Aerospace Engines
Isometric view of this year's project payload
The Vanderbilt Aerospace Club is a student organization at Vanderbilt University. We are a group of engineering students under the guidance of faculty advisor Dr. A. V. Anilkumar. We are financed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Tennessee Space Grant Consortium, the Tennessee Section of the AIAA, and the Vanderbilt Mechanical Engineering Department .
The majority of the club's membership consists of those engineering students who have chosen to participiate in the School of Engineering's Senior Design Project. The current function of the club is to compete in the NASA University Student Launch Initiative (USLI) competition and to present the project at both the regional AIAA Student Conference and the various events included in the Senior Design Project.
This year's project is a thermoelectric system which will show that regenerating energy from waste heat lost in exhaust gasses is a viable method for increasing efficiency in aircraft motors and engines. The use of a rocket for this experiment allows for the inclusion of actual velocity and ambient air temperatures as variables. This ensures that the energy regeneration methods used in the testing models the actual conditions in which an aircraft may be using these regeneration techniques.
