JOHOR BARU: Some 40 engineering students from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) have been working together for the past nine months, designing and building their own prototype rocket, which is expected to fly about 3,000m in the air.
Their aim now is to make the nation proud as the rocket, named Rimau 1, is slated to be part of the International Rocket Engineering Competition 2025 (IREC 2025), which will be held in Texas, the United States, next month.
Final year mechanical engineering student T. Arykummara, who is also the project director, said their 2.8m-long rocket, weighing 28kg, was made from scratch using locally sourced materials.“Only the propulsion for the rocket has been sourced from overseas. We have allocated a budget of about RM150,000 for the project.
“We hope to launch the rocket, which is expected to travel about 10,000ft or roughly a distance of 3km before two parachutes are deployed for it to safely land,” he said in an interview.
Arykummara said this was a major feat for the students, mostly third and final year students from various engineering background, who are all members of the UTM Rocketry Team.
“We are the only Malaysian team selected for the competition.
“We went through four levels of judging since November last year with the final green light given earlier this month,” he said.
Initially, about 400 teams from around the world submitted their designs but in the first round, that number was narrowed down to about 170 teams.
“Now, about 160 teams will be vying in the final round of the competition,” Arykummara said, adding that they divided themselves into seven teams to manage the project including structural, electronics, aerodynamics, propulsion, safety, recovery and payload.
“We also have a management team which is tasked mainly with sourcing for funding for the project,” he said.
He also thanked the team’s five UTM lecturers who are their advisers for the project, as well as the sponsors who helped with funding and materials for the rocket.
In 2022 and 2023, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) took part in the competition.
“This year, we were supposed to collaborate with USM but they withdrew in the early stages, so we went in all the way,” Arykummara said.
He added that their rocket is now 95% ready and only needs some minor finishing touches, including a coat of paint.
Asked if they have tested the rocket, he said everything is good in theory as they do not have the propulsion system to test it yet.
“We cannot simply test the rocket because a propulsion system is something that is strictly controlled in Malaysia.
“So, we can only try it out once we are in the United States,” he said, adding that their rocket will be transported in four different components which can be assembled together.
He also said their biggest challenge is lack of funding as they can only take 10 people, including a lecturer, for the competition.
“We started crowdfunding a few days ago as we hope to raise about RM86,000 to bring along six other students,” he said, hoping that individuals or companies will donate via the UTM Rocketry Team’s social media accounts.
Arykummara said if given a chance, they would like to bring everyone who played a role in the project as it would be a good place for them to meet and exchange ideas with other international teams and companies.
Lecturers Dr Ahmad Humaizi Rozaini and Dr Muhammad Faruq Foong Mohamad Faiz Foong, who are among their advisers, said they were proud of their students’ achievements.
“We were initially sceptical about the idea but once we saw their determination and passion, we encouraged them.
“Even the university assisted with some funding,” they said, hoping that the project would be a success and achieve the right altitude after lift-off.
They also hoped that more engineering students would be inspired to come up with designs and join competitions to showcase their talent and creativity.
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