2023-11-19 Meeting notes

Recruitment

Vann

• Recruitment went well, group is standing at ~15 members.

• Solid recruitment of both lower and upperclassmen.

• Retention is not bad but could be improved.

Materials lab ovens

Ryan

• The materials lab has an oven that could be used for sintering the 3D printed test piece.

Test site design

Ryan

• It would be easy to, for example, want to put it as far away as possible but that would be inconvenient and may not be a requirement. Make sure to have a robust understanding of requirements and not arbitrability set things like standoff distance/LOS reqs.

• Also consider reaching out to Chambers Battery people/GPE for test site, while the actual test "enclosure" may not have overlap between groups we could still work together to improve the stalls/get utilities ran/running. Point being if our exact test need don't overlap we can still collaborate if it is beneficial.
  

Livestreaming testing

Ryan

• Consider livestreaming testing for both EHS and CPLC needs/desires.

• It is not very hard to stream to Yotube, it saves the recording on their servers and should not be hard given that testing happens on campus (internet connection + power).

Consider building the lander now

Ryan

• This is a big one but has some genuine backing. Firstly, the lander could be split between a top half (tanks, av bay, rcs, etc.) and a bottom half (landing structure and engine system (including plumbing and valves)), if necessary. This has two major benefits: 1. We get hardware on hand, this build momentum for the group as well as credibility, Tom can't hand wave so easily when the bottom half of a lander is sitting in the bay. 2. being hardware rich early could be highly beneficial.

• The scope of this may very well be lower than some, myself included, imagined. It could be done in a sprint of a few weeks.

• I'd like to discuss this and barring any major pushback will mention it in the rocketry callout meeting week 1.

Onboarding projects → CPLC work

Ryan

• Following FC onboarding project that team may want to pivot to DAQ/Labview work.

• Same for other groups/individuals.
  

New meeting structure

Vann & Ryan

• Weekly Tuesday meetings in the KIC

• Friday accountability updates

  • “what you did, should have gotten done, and what is at risk”

Final notes

Vann & Ryan

• I (Ryan) strongly recommend entering a structure where you’re either a part of making a lander or you’re a part of making PB-1 hotfire.

• That being said, by winter quarter start, everyone should be able to ask themselves “what did I do this week that got us closer to [hotfire or lander]?”

• Start breaking the problem down into what is the bare minimum that is gating test (as well defined by a set of requirements) and work on those problems

• Lastly I recommend heavy documentation. Mostly because writing things down (e.g. minimum requirements to get to hotfire) gets you to think about them clearer. Also if someone signs off on a requirements set, it forces that person to commit and stand ground about decisions

• Winter quarter callout is soon, the request is for PM’s to present very briefly on group progress and focus more on what new members can work on.

  • Vann intends to present Lander and Test Site.