As an executive of the Astrophysics club, I am not only captivated by gazing at stars, the moon, auroras, and solar eclipses, but also love the “engineer” aspects of the club! Last semester, since our team was missing a launch base for the annual SWC Astrophysics club bottle rocket building challenge, I immediately took this opportunity to create the base from scratch. Together, with my twin Bingxuan, we spent roughly a month modelling, building, and refining a rocket launch base. The process was both strenuous and difficult. We measured the maximum air pressure the bottle rockets could withstand before shooting up using our Campbell Hausfeld air compressor. We cut up a bicycle tire to obtain an air valve that would suit the bicycle pump — also shredding the bicycle tire into rubber strips to seal the end of the air hose. We sawed, nailed, and sanded the wooden base of the launch pad. Without our dad’s supervision, we would have not been able to use such dangerous equipment to reconstruct a rocket base from scratch. Through numerous rounds of trial and error in our backyard, we were finally able to construct a rocket launch base that our club could use to host the bottle rocket challenge. There were many moments during this process of engineering where I had lost hope in our launch base. For instance, the end of the air hose was CONSTANTLY leaking, as the air pressure within the hose was simply too high. However we through numerous attempts of trial and error, we eventually found a way to creatively fathom out a solution. The rewards were amazing. Our school-wide bottle rocket challenge was a success, with many of the contestants’ rockets shooting up as high as twenty meters! The most satisfying of all was observing students without any expertise with rocket building whatsoever build their own bottle rockets and participate in the challenge. It just feels so satisfying knowing that you’ve given others the opportunity to step outside of their comfort zone and try something completely new.

However, I’m not satisfied just yet. This year, I plan on collaborating with other Astrophysics or Astronomy-related clubs in other high schools. I envision the SWC Astrophysics club hosting a municipal bottle rocket challenge during the end of the year, inviting high school students all across Calgary to participate. I want to empower all high school students across Calgary with the opportunity to engineer and innovate. This is my target, at least for now.