The 5th edition of Airbus Sloshing Rocket Workshop (ASRW), a prestigious event for aerospace engineering students, took place in Lisbon, at the Instituto Superior Técnico and the Portuguese Air force Academy facilities from the 9th to the 15th of August 2024. In this year’s competition, several records were broken, including the highest number of registrations, greater horizontal flight distance and highest number of successful launches. A team from the University of Bologna and AS Forlì-Bologna, “Squirrel Works”, comprised of members from Italy, Spain, and Colombia, claimed victory at the end of the event.
This competition, sponsored by Airbus and hosted by AeroTéc (Aerospace Engineering Students’ Association of the Instituto Superior Técnico) in Lisbon, Portugal gave the opportunity to 5 finalist teams to be immersed in the technical challenges of rocket design, demanding novel approaches to overcome the destabilisation effect caused by the movement of liquid within the rocket, and also to get to know an European capital city filled with history and a rich cultural heritage.
This week was the perfect opportunity for the teams of students from the University of Bologna (Squirrel Works), TU Delft (Not Entirely Unlike a Rocket), TU Berlin (Skyhawk Squadron), Zewail City of Science and Technology (ZC-Wings) and Gebze Technical University (Water Wings) to experience a unique blend of technical learning and cultural exchange, with activities such as a welcome dinner, the cultural visit to the city centre, the cultural night and the final dinner.
On the 14th of August, the participants left the university facilities and got to explore one of the Portuguese Air Force Academy bases, in which the final launches of the competition would take place. After presenting their projects, the teams got to visit this unique facility and perform the final launch of their rocket, which signalled the end of the competition. This final began with the flight from the winning team, Squirrel Works from the University of Bologna, who broke the record with a 26m flight. After all the launches took place, the teams left the Portuguese Air Force Academy facilities and got ready to celebrate this hard-working and memorable week with the well-deserved final dinner.
After a rigorous evaluation by a panel of judges, including three experts from Airbus and one of the main associate professors from AeroTéc, the Italian team emerged victorious. Their design was unanimously praised for its outstanding innovation, stability, overall performance, and was also accompanied by a great technical report and presentation, securing them the first place. Not Entirely Unlike a Rocket earned second place, while Skyhawk Squadron, Water Wings and ZC-Wings finished third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.
This event couldn’t have happened without the help of Airbus, MathWorks, the Portuguese Air Force Academy, Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto Português do Desporto e Juventude, Ansys and Beyond Gravity.
This competition not only highlighted the outstanding talent and creativity of the participating teams but also strengthened the collaboration between AeroTéc, EUROAVIA, Airbus, and academic institutions across the world. The success of the 2024 edition is expected to inspire future generations of engineers and researchers, further advancing the field of aeronautics and space exploration.
AS Lisboa