Northern Oklahoma College participated in the 14th Annual First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition in Kenosha, Wisconsin, recently..NOC students participated in the “Moon” portion of the competition which required them to design and fabricate parts to lighten a standard rocket kit. Students chose the 4-inch diameter fiberglass Tomach Rocket Kit as their base rocket. For the competition, the nose cone, centering rings, and electronics bay were fabricated using 3-D printing technology. Additionally, the students fabricated other parts using aircraft plywood.Participating students included Timothy Edwards, Grant Biggers, Abbigayle Vargas (Team Lead), Raven Bruce, Jared Meeks, and Chloe Wilkins. Also, at the competition was a team from the University of Oklahoma featuring two of NOC’s alumni who participated on last year’s NOC Gateway Rocket Team, Phillip PrairieChief and Rachel Chatterji.This competition is sponsored by NASA’s Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and is an opportunity for students attending a Tribal College or University, Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution or who are members of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).Dr. Frankie Wood-Black, the Team’s Sponsor and Division Chair of the Engineering, Physical Science and Process Technology Division, said, “This competition provides students with real world engineering challenges. The students work for over six months to design, simulate, and build the rocket to meet the specified parameters. The students are required to prepare intermediate presentations detailing their designs, challenges, and solutions, culminating in the High-Powered Rocket Launch at the competition.”While the final results of the competition are pending as students are required to submit a post launch assessment report. This year’s rocket did complete its flight.“While not everything went as planned the rocket was recovered and will be able to fly again,” Wood-Black said.Four of this year’s team will be moving on to Oklahoma State University, while two of the team members will help to contribute to NOC’s Team next year.
