Rocket Engine

This project began during my internship at the Technical University of Munich, when I discovered an air compressor and propane bottle left by my room's previous occupant. With only 8 working days available, I took on the ambitious challenge of designing and building a functional rocket engine from scratch.

The technical design incorporated sophisticated thermodynamic principles: - A layered construction featuring an inner combustion chamber surrounded by an enclosure with strategic holes - An innovative cooling system where incoming air passes around the combustion chamber before entering it, providing cooling while preheating the air for combustion - Implementation of a de Laval nozzle, which creates a precise supersonic flow pattern through careful compression and expansion - Butane enters directly into the combustion chamber while air circulates around it first for cooling

Working alongside my uncle (an astrophysics professor) and an engineer named Laszlo, I created detailed 3D models at night while spending days securing manufacturing resources. We faced numerous challenges: university workshops were booked months in advance, specialized components needed to be sourced quickly, and we encountered compatibility issues with threaded connections.

Despite the obstacles, we completed the engine just hours before my departure flight. The moment of ignition was transformative - the intense blue flame representing not just the successful completion of a technical challenge, but the beginning of my accelerated journey into engineering and project development.

This experience taught me invaluable lessons in rapid prototyping, thermodynamics, manufacturing constraints, and most importantly, the power of determined problem-solving. The success with this project catalyzed my subsequent work on numerous engineering challenges, from VTOL aircraft to plasma confinement reactors.