Harlem Launch Alliance: Student Run Non-profit organization at CCNY
Words by Jana Makki
Illustration by Katie Herchenroeder
In1947, three students studying mechanical engineering and one studying chemicalengineering at the City College of New York had a dream to design, build, andtest a rocket. At that time, there were no books containing the informationneeded and rocket motor details remained classified.
Witha rocket motor made out of stainless steel, the students convinced schoolauthorities to allow the rocket engine to be tested on the front of Amsterdam Avenuein a 10 feet deep culvert. They had their first successful firing in thepresence of a junior president of Reaction motors in which they were offeredemployment for having built one of the most dangerous things he has ever seen.In 1948, they won the student award given by the American Rocket Society. Thesignificance of this award demonstrated an extraordinary accomplishment thathas not been done since.
BeforeHarlem Launch Alliance (HLA) was conceived, it was a club founded in 2014 byRob Davis and other students called the Planetary & Rocket Science Group (PRSG).Its goal was to organize a project called “Messenger-1” to launch at thelargest rocket competition in the world, Spaceport America cup. “The originalscope of the project was far too ambitious for a first-year team, it neededpeople with an already high level of manufacturing proficiency. It would have required20-25 well organized people to even have a chance,” said Rob Davis, the creatorof HLA and one of the founders of PRSG.
Headded, “You probably couldn't haveassembled a more dysfunctional group of individuals if you tried.”
Despitethe failure of messenger-1, Rob continued to strive to grow CCNY rocketry andlooked to collaborate with three different clubs: CCNY office of ExperimentalRocketry, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and CCNY Aerospace. With nosuccessful outcomes from that collaboration, Davis decided to be a founder of anonprofit organization that would combine all of these interests. “My intentionwas to found the HLA and hand it off to those who were interested in pursuingits mission. As has consistently happened, the HLA always finds a way to keepme around,” Davis exclaimed. The organization successfully launched a rocket atthe Spaceport America Cup in 2017.
Currently, the program has two ongoing projects. The firstproject, “Project Messenger,” is run by Tamar Nagel, the messenger chiefengineer. “I first got involved with the CCNY Aerospace as a sophomore, when Iwandered into a ‘crash course in rocketry’ that Rob Davis, the founder of HLA,was teaching. I was fascinated by the material - who doesn’t think rockets areawesome?” shares Nagel, a senior studying electrical engineering. As anelectrical engineer, she was approached to be the lead controls engineer foranother project. She is now in charge of a project that is due to launch atSpaceport America Cup in June 2019. It is located in Southern New Mexico andrepresents more than 70 institutions located all across the USA and around theworld.
The other running project is Project Aries led by ChiefEngineer Michael Borrello. “Project Aries is the first NYC collegiate rocketryteam to design and manufacture a single stage hybrid rocket engine,” explainedBorrello. The entire engine structure and filling lines are designed andmanufactured by the Launch Engineers on the project.
In May 2019, many different types of designs were created bymultiple teams using rapid protoyping and technical manufacturing skills. “Thefiring of this student designed engine will mark the beginning of an era wherestudents from CCNY demonstrated that with limited mentorship from the college,they were able to successfully design and manufacture a launch ready rocketengine from scratch,” Borrello remarked.
With the competition approaching, Harlem Launch Alliance is sharingits progress and preparation for the competition on its Instagram page, @HarlemLaunchAlliance.With limited resources and funding, HLA is asking for aid from the CCNYcommunity, providing a link to a funding page in its Instagram bio. Competingagainst institutions with high budgets, compared by lack of supplies provided,makes the organizations goals harder to reach. When looking at their website, www.hla.nyc, one can get involved bysubmitting an interest form which are accepted on a rolling basis. Students areoften looking at the next best thing to put on their resume, and HLA, locatedright on campus in the Grove School of Engineering, provides many with thatopportunity. All majors are encouraged to get involved!
