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The University of Liverpool’s Aerospace Student Engineering and Research (LASER) team has reached new heights after being crowned National Champions at the UKSEDS National Rocketry Championship.
The student-led initiative competed against approximately 50 university teams from across the UK, securing first place overall, marking a huge achievement for the University and reflecting Liverpool’s leading aerospace programmes. The success builds on the team’s first-ever rocket launch in 2024, showing the rapid progress and ambition of LASER.
The team’s success didn’t stop there. Alongside the national champion trophy, LASER received two additional awards recognising excellence in engineering innovation and community engagement.
The Public Engagement Award celebrates the team’s commitment to inspiring the next generation of engineering through outreach activities. Throughout the year, members have delivered workshops at LASER meetings, spoken to students during University lectures, run activities with local Scout groups and built an active online presence to promote space engineering and STEM careers.
The team also received the Best Rideshare Payload Award, recognising the innovative design of their onboard electronics. This includes the computer that member Joseph Wood built as part of his third year project alongside a computer vision experiment and a bespoke ground station capable of receiving real-time flight telemetry during launch, developed by member Thiruwaran Kalvin.
Inga Panko, LASER Team Leader, said:
“Winning the National Rocketry Championship is an incredible achievement for everyone involved. Countless hours of design, testing and teamwork have gone into this project, and to be recognised as the UK's national champions is something we're immensely proud of.
Receiving the Public Engagement and Best Rideshare Payload Awards makes the achievement even more special. Our team is made up of amazing future engineers who are committed to inspiring others and sharing our passion for space engineering.”
Dr Waleed Al-Nuaimy, Senior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering and Electronics, said:
“This is an outstanding achievement and a testament to the talent, commitment and determination of our students. To be crowned national champions against such strong competition is remarkable, but what makes me equally proud is that the team received recognition for its public engagement and engineering innovation. We want our students at Liverpool to apply their knowledge to real-world challenges and to work collaboratively, which is exactly what LASER sets out to do. They’re an inspiration to the next generation of engineers.”
The championship trophy has now returned to the LASER laboratory at the University, where it will remain on display until next year's competition. The team will also showcase the two award plaques, celebrating what has been an outstanding year for student engineering at Liverpool.
Founded in 2021, LASER brings together students from across the University to design, build and test aerospace technologies, providing real-world experience that compliments their studies. LASER continues to grow, giving students the opportunity to work on ambitious projects from rockets and satellites to communications systems and autonomous technologies. If you would like to join LASER, follow @laser_uol on Instagram for the latest updates.