The ADDU Rocketry Team at the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles. Photo from the Facebook page of the PhilConGen in LA
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 21 June) – A 10-member rocketry team from the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) is among the 200 teams from over 20 countries competing in the Spaceport America Cup, the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket engineering conference and competition, at the Las Cruces Convention Center in New Mexico, US.
The team’s high-powered rocket called “Sibol,” which means “growth” in Filipino, is capable of carrying an 8.8-pound payload to an altitude of 10,000 feet.
Dr. Rojel Mari Sese, chair of the university’s Aerospace Engineering Department, said that ADDU’s Rocketry Team is the first from the Philippines to represent the country in the prestigious intercollegiate rocket engineering competition from June 17 to 22, 2024.
He said the students are assisted by three faculty members of ADDU’s Aerospace Engineering Department.
He said ADDU’s Rocketry Team is one of the four teams from Asia to compete in the international competition. Two teams from Thailand and another one from Taiwan are also competing.
“This is a product of months of tireless work and sleepless nights and a lot of handwork that the faculty and students have undertaken in the past few months. Their tireless efforts in making this dream becoming a reality is something that we have all aspired to do in the past few months and what you can see is the result of months of tireless work and labor, done by everyone in the team to make this reality,” he said.
He said the Philippine team will compete in the “solid propulsion category” where it aims to reach an altitude of 10,000 feet.
“Our team will be competing in the solid propulsion category, specifically for the commercial off-the-shelf category. So, this means that a rocket… should reach an altitude of 10,000 feet wherein from there the rocket will deploy its parachute and then it descends to the ground,” he said.
He added that the competition is not just about reaching the highest altitude but will be more of a “precision competition,” making sure that “everything works properly based on the mission design of the rocket.”
ADDU president Fr. Karel San Juan SJ said that initiatives like this reflect the university’s mission to advance the aerospace engineering in the country.
“Through these activities, we aim to not just compete in future Spaceport America Cup competitions but also inspire and nurture a new generation of Filipino engineers and scientists, positioning our country as a burgeoning hub for aerospace innovation,” he said.
Sese said they hope to position Davao as a hub for aerospace innovation and technology.
“Why do we launch rockets from here, because we have a very good geography in terms of location-wise. We have a very good geography for launching rockets, not just as test launches, but eventually in the future we can launch rockets also into outer space because we have the whole seaboard on the eastern side,” he said.
He said one of the biggest functions of rocket technology is launching satellites into outer space.
He said satellites play a very integral role in day-to-day life, which includes the use of mobile phones, communication, global positioning system or GPS, and weather forecasting.
“Without the capacity to bring satellites and other space objects into outer space, we would not be able to enjoy a lot of the conveniences of modern society that we have now, so this is where aerospace engineering and space technology comes in our everyday life,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
