By James Laird | Reporter
Aero at Baylor provides students with the opportunity to explore and grow in their understanding of the aerospace field through projects, competitions and group events. The club encourages students to apply what they are studying into real world projects.
The club has close to 50 members, with majors ranging from engineering to astrophysics. Parker, Colo., senior and president of Aero at Baylor Jonathan Gildehaus said the club’s main focus is preparing students for their future careers through projects and other professional development opportunities.
“We want to give you an opportunity outside of the classroom to get hands-on experience to then go show employers, ‘This is what I’ve done; this is what I can do.’ And ultimately help you get jobs later on,” Gildehaus said.
Aero at Baylor has four different competition teams currently working on various projects and competing with teams from around the world. Aero has completed many projects like creating a UX (user experience) design for astronauts to use at NASA and designing a 16-foot remote control airplane for a competition.
“We went up to SAE Aero and actually are taking a team back this year,” Gildehaus said. “A team of all seniors is going back to that competition this year for a design competition where they build an RC aircraft and fly it.”
The club also provides members the opportunity to connect with employers within aerospace and build their network, Gildehaus said.
“We bring in employers to get opportunities for people to meet, like we’ve done stuff with Lockheed Martin and SpaceX and a handful of other companies throughout the time that I’ve been here,” Gildehaus said.
Gildehaus said being able to get industry contracts with companies like Launch Alliance and Blue Origin and getting them to see what they have been doing at Baylor helps them get publicity and raise awareness for people to see who they are and what they do.
Fremont, Calif., sophomore Advika Govindarajan is a project manager for Aero and said the club, specifically with the rocketry team, has been a huge help in landing her internship with Blue Origin. Govindarajan also believes going out and showcasing the club’s work is a big benefit as well.
“I definitely think the competition that we’re going to help a lot because that’s where a lot of the top employers come to, since it’s an international competition,” Govindarajan said. “So it’s really cool to see teams from around the world, like how they approach rocketry.”
Aero at Baylor offers opportunities for both underclassmen and upperclassmen. While these groups may have different needs, the club is able to provide opportunities for everyone, Gildehaus said.
“We have a handful of others that are project managers and chief engineers that are upperclassmen on our other teams, so they’re kind of there to help guide the team along,” Gildehaus said. “But it really can’t happen without all of the underclassmen that we bring into [the club] because they’re there to learn and help design but also do smaller tasks and help build. And we get a lot of people in for the build days, and I know that without that amount of people, we really couldn’t do what we wanted.”
Gildehaus and Govindarajan both believe the future of the club is bright. Most recently the club presented at the ECS Research Showcase. Aero at Baylor submitted two projects: Baylor Liquid Propulsion and the Payload for the Rocket, and the latter won third place.
“Eventually the goal is to combine our liquid fuel team with our rocketry team because currently our rocketry team uses a solid motor for the competition,” Govindarajan said. “So once we do that it’ll be pretty exciting because the competition that we attend, no one has ever done a liquid fuel rocket, so we hope to be the first. I’m also excited to see the new people that join. We’re also hoping to expand our club to like people outside of the engineering department.”
