Recruitment

SEDS UCSD

SEDS UCSD was founded with the goal of giving students the opportunity to challenge the boundaries of space exploration through engineering. We pioneer industry-level rocketry projects and cultivate leaders in both engineering and business fields, all while performing research that pushes the space industry forward as a whole. We develop some of the most advanced technologies in collegiate rocketry with intense creativity and relentless hard work.

Our Teams

Our organization develops and tests additively manufactured liquid rocket engines, and we design and launch vehicles powered by these engines. Our projects provide students with the opportunity to conduct real aerospace research at a collegiate level, directly preparing them for the industry. Currently, we have four project teams, including the Propulsion and Colossus teams which design and test liquid rocket engines, and the Halya and Riptide teams which design and manufacture next-generation vehicles for flight.

Our Business and Finance team members get real, hands-on experience bringing in some of the biggest names in the industry as sponsors and budgeting our expenses. Our Media and Outreach team publicizes our launches across multiple media platforms, gives back to our San Diego community through tabling events and programs, and works with community partners.

Our mentorship program SEDSxFEMxTR partners with Triton Racing to provide opportunities and a safe space for first-year women and gender minorities in engineering fields. SEDSxFEMxTR organizes its own recruitment process concurrently to the general recruitment for SEDS.

Learn more about each of our teams further below on this page!

Project Teams

Propulsion

Our Propulsion team has been designing and testing additively manufactured rocket engines since 2012. Nephas, the latest addition to our engine family, is a copper alloy engine designed for throttling and reusability. Instead of using off-the-shelf solid igniters, our team has designed a torch igniter that is integrated into the engine. Our design cycle requires rapidly analyzing, testing, and iterating on our designs to get to a successful vehicle configuration, which is the biggest benefit of the additive manufacturing technique.

Lander

The Rocket Lander Testbed team works on designing, testing, and iterating self-landing suborbital rocket technology. The current focus of the team is our Riptide lander, which is a 25-foot rocket that will ascend to 1000 ft altitude and land back on the ground by throttling our engine. The Riptide avionics team is currently working on testing their electronic hardware and controls on a sub-scale version of the rocket, while the propellant feed and structures teams work on designing and manufacturing the main body modules, landing legs, propellant tanks, and engine feed system for Riptide.

Atlas

Drawing inspiration from NASA’s groundbreaking Ingenuity mission, the Atlas initiative seeks to introduce cutting-edge advancements in powered flight to aid in the discovery of viable resource and exploration sites on other planets. Our goal is to deploy drones equipped with advanced imagery analysis and sensor systems, to autonomously navigate and detect valuable resources. The ultimate aim is to adapt this technology for use in Martian environments, particularly within cave systems, where traditional methods of exploration are limited. One of the unique aspects of the project is the seamless integration of drones with rovers, establishing a dynamic relay system. We provide a great opportunity for driven engineers, especially in software and electronics, who are willing to research, develop and iterate simultaneously over a year long timeline on a project from conception to conclusion.

Halya

Halya (pronounced “hesh-lah") is a suborbital rocket that will compete in the FAR-Mars collegiate rocketry competition. Halya relies on the copper engine developed by our Propulsion team to launch at supersonic speeds, in hopes of breaking records as the first undergraduate liquid rocket to reach 45,000ft and recover with two-stage parachutes. Unique for its common bulkhead tank that houses its cryogenic liquid propellants, this sounding rocket will also utilize a hybrid strut-aeroshell aerodynamic skin and custom antennas, all manufactured in-house.

Colossus

Colossus is a comprehensive liquid rocket test-stand commissioned by NASA to establish a reliable, accessible, and advanced means for collegiate organizations to test their rocket engines. Colossus is a mobile static fire system rated for rocket engines all the way up to 2,700 lbf, making it one of the most powerful mobile static fire systems in the U.S. with dual cryogenic capabilities. Colossus is nearing the end of final system manufacturing, and as the Propulsion team is gearing up for tests of the Nephas engine, Colossus offers many opportunities to get technical experience with electrical, software, structural, and propellant systems hardware and testing.

SEDS x FEM x TR

SEDSxFEMxTR is a mentorship program opportunity for first year (and select second year) women and gender minorities geared towards increasing the retention of gender minorities in engineering fields. SEDSxFEMxTR exists within SEDS and UCSD’s Formula SAE team Triton Racing where members are accepted alongside their acceptance to the club they apply for. Members are paired up with an older member of their club who will serve as a mentor throughout the year holding weekly one-on-one meetings and weekly community meetings with workshops for professionalism and technical software and hardware skills.

The application for SEDSxFEMxTR can be found here.