Mechanical Staging System

During my freshmen year at Georgia Tech (2019-2020) I worked with Georgia Tech's experimental rocketry team to build a rocket called Rubber Band Man. The team built this rocket for the yearly Space Port America Cup where we competed in the 30k feet series. One of my main responsibilities in this project was designing and building a mechanical staging system. Apart from assisting in the research and design of the staging system, I machined V-blocks, aluminum flanges, and the spring. The spring steel band opens allowing the two flanges to separate when an electrical current from when the avionics deck cuts a nichrome wire. I helped the team with a rigorous campaign in which we tested the system's ability to hold the booster and sustainer together in bending, shear, torsional, and vibrational loadings.