Our Teams
Below is information on each of our teams. We have five technical teams who are responsible for the design and manufacture of our rockets, as well as two non-technical teams who manage LURA’s day-to-day operations and marketing.
The items listed under ‘What are we looking for?’ for each team are simply guidelines and none of them are mandatory requirements. Even if you don’t study the recommended degree, you can still apply for that team – skills can be taught, what is more important is your character, values and your eagerness to expand your knowledge.
Our Technical Teams
AEROSTRUCTURES
Responsibilities
- Designing the rocket body itself, including the fins and nosecone
- Modelling and simulating the flight path and understanding how different factors affect the rocket’s performance
- Establishing the rules that determine the conditions in which we can launch the rocket
What are we looking for?
(recommended, not required)
- Aerospace, Mechanical, Automotive Engineering
- CFD experience
- CAD experience: modelling and FEA
- OpenRocket experience
- MATLAB and MATLAB GUI experience
AVIONICS
Responsibilities
- Designing and building the failproof circuitry that will control the rocket’s functions
- Selecting batteries and integrating them into the rocket design
What are we looking for?
(recommended, not required)
- Mechatronics, Electronics and Electrical Engineering
- Understanding of redundant systems
- Experience in designing and testing circuits and/or PCBs
- Experience with Multisim/Simulink/PLECS
PAYLOAD
Responsibilities
- Creating our unique black box payload that will record the rocket's flight performance data
- Integrating the payload into the rocket
- Designing a telemetry system that will transmit the data back to ground
What are we looking for?
(recommended, not required)
- Mechatronics, Electronics and Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science
- Experience in designing and testing circuits
- Experience with Multisim/Simulink/PLECS
- Experience with PCB design
- MATLAB and MATLAB GUI experience
- Programming skills (e.g. Python, C# etc)
PROPULSION
Responsibilities
- Selecting the correct solid rocket engine
- Designing how the engine will be integrated into the rocket body
- Designing the launch pad and rail that will be used for the UK test launches
- Creating the launch control and engine ignition mechanism
- Organising the logistics for obtaining the same engine for both UK and US launches
What are we looking for?
(recommended, not required)
- Aerospace, Mechanical, Automotive Engineering
- CAD experience: modelling and FEA
- Powertrain experience
- Knowledge of solid fuels
- Experience with thermal simulation e.g. ANSYS
- MATLAB and MATLAB GUI experience
RECOVERY
Responsibilities
- Designing the system of parachutes that will ensure the rocket survives impact with the ground
- Selecting ejection charges that will deploy the parachutes
- Establishing a recovery operation plan to retrieve the rocket after use
What are we looking for?
(recommended, not required)
- Aerospace, Mechanical, Automotive Engineering
- CAD experience: modelling and FEA
Our Non-Technical Teams
Business
Responsibilities
- Handling funding requests both internal (within the university) and external (to private companies)
- Organising the logistics for competitions and test launches
- Recruiting new members as LURA expands
- Looking after the wellbeing of members, organising social events etc
What are we looking for?
(recommended, not required)
- Business, management or economics degree
- Experience on a society committee (or similar)
MARKETING
Responsibilities
- Handling LURA’s social media and running the website, writing blog posts etc
- Graphic design of all of our branding and promotional materials
- Thinking of exciting new ways to raise our profile and put LURA on the map
What are we looking for?
(recommended, not required)
- Digital Media, Marketing, Business
- Experience running social media pages
- Graphic design experience
- Web design experience