Senior Design Team
President and Team Lead: Katelyn Yount
Years in Club: 4
Prior Experience: Vice President, Outreach Lead
Katelyn is a senior in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Mathematics. As Team Lead and Club President, she is responsible for leading the Senior Design team and managing the club. This year, Katelyn hopes to lead the club to excel in the 2025 NASA Student Launch Initiative. She also aims to create a welcoming environment for all members. Katelyn has previously served as Vice President and Outreach Lead for the club, and also has her Level 1 High-Powered Rocketry Certification. She has worked as a research assistant on an amphibious rover in the Engineering Mechanics and Space Systems Lab, and in her free time, she enjoys swimming.
Structures Lead: James Holley
Years in Club: 2
James is responsible for the structural analysis, testing, and construction of the launch vehicles and component hardware. This year, James aims to lead the creation of safe, effective, and elegant USLI competition rockets through innovation as well as refinement of successful team designs and techniques. James has been involved with rocketry since childhood and holds a Level 2 High-Powered Certification through the Tripoli Rocketry Association. He is passionate about exploration and all manner of air and spaceflight. Outside of rocketry, James enjoys not having fun, persistent existential dread, and loathes interaction with most people.
Recovery Lead: Trent Couse
Years in Club: 6
Prior Experience: Treasurer, Secretary
Trent is a 6th year student studying Aerospace Engineering with minors in Physics and Outdoor Education. He is enthusiastic about this year’s payload challenge as well as implementing airbrakes into our competition rocket. Outside of HPRC, he has worked as an Astrophysics Undergraduate Research Assistant and completed five rotations as a NASA Pathways Intern at Johnson Space Center. In his free time, he loves hiking, climbing, and mountaineering.
Aerodynamics Lead: Aubri Sprouse
Years in Club: 3
Aubri is the senior in charge of the aerodynamic design of the rocket. This entails designing primary structure, optimizing mass, ensuring flight stability, as well as implementing an airbrakes system to meet the altitude challenge laid out by the NASA Student Launch. She has previously interned at United Launch Alliance, where she worked in systems and design. Aubri currently leads the SolidWorks User Group at NC State, has completed a minor in Graphic Communications, and enjoys watching and playing sports.
Integration Lead: Abigail Kuppler
Years in Club: 2
Abigail is a senior majoring in Aerospace Engineering. She is an active member of HPRC, where she serves as the Integration Lead for this year’s senior design team. In this role, Abigail is responsible for integrating payloads and new structural components into the launch vehicle. She also facilitates effective communication between various subteams and assists the Team Lead with project management and documentation. Additionally, Abigail is a member of the Brooke Owens Fellowship Class of 2024 and has previously interned at Stratolaunch, where she focused on payload integration and structural design.
Payload Structural Integration Lead: Ryan Keever
Years in Club: 2
Ryan is a senior in Aerospace Engineering and one of the Payload Leads. He is responsible for the design and development of this year’s payload system, aiming to create an innovative payload that excels at the launch competition. Over the past summer, he interned at NASA Langley Research Center, designing and prototyping hardware for the robotic assembly of structures on the Moon. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, watching movies, and loves cats.
Payload Electronics Lead: Samuel Patterson
Years in Club: 2
Sam is a senior in Aerospace Engineering who enjoys aviation and the outdoors. This year he will be the Payload Electronics Team Leader. Sam hopes to get first place this year! He has previously worked on the club’s airbrakes projects, which he is hoping to integrate into this year’s Student Launch rocket. In his free time, he enjoys going sailing and spending time with his friends.
Payload Systems Lead: Connor Swanson
Years in Club: 3
Connor is a senior majoring in Aerospace Engineering with minors in Business Administration and Computer Programming. As a payload lead, his responsibilities include designing, developing, and testing the various systems involved in the rocket’s payload. This year, he’s looking forward to working on a successful and exciting payload. This is his third year being a member of NCSU’s High-Powered Rocketry Club. He has previously completed a co-op at Altec as a manufacturing engineer, where he designed and implemented improvements to manufacturing processes. Outside of engineering, he enjoys playing and listening to music, watching football, and playing board games.
Officer Team
Vice President: Donald Gemmel
Years in Club: 3
Donald is a junior in Aerospace Engineering. He will be leading the WolfWorks Experimental team in developing new student-designed and tested high-power rockets. This will be Donald’s fifth year working on amateur high-power rockets, and he holds a Level 2 certification through the National Association of Rocketry. Outside of rocketry, he enjoys mountain biking around campus and on local trails, and he conducts research in the NC State Turbulent Shear Flow Laboratory.
Treasurer: Tyler Perez
Years in Club: 2
Tyler is a junior in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Business Entrepreneurship. He has a background in understanding finances and is excited to serve as the club’s treasurer this year. Outside of rocketry, Tyler is the student recruitment lead for the Society of Sales Engineers and enjoys motorsports in his free time.
Secretary: Sofia Antinozzi
Years in Club: 4
Prior Experience: Webmaster
Sofia is a senior in Material Science and Engineering. She plans to keep the club on track by communicating with club members and outside organizations as HPRC’s primary point of contact. She is the president of NC State’s Material Advantage Chapter, and works as an undergraduate researcher in the Corrosion and Advanced Materials Lab at NC State.
Safety Officer: Megan Rink
Years in Club: 4
Megan is a senior majoring in History, concentrating on technological history. In addition to maximizing our safety score from NASA, she hopes to create a fun and safe environment this year and improve the overall safety awareness of the club as a whole. In addition to rocketry, Megan has worked as a Museum Content and Collections Intern at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. She is a massive audiophile, an avid record collector, and can be found at NC State sporting events of all kinds.
Outreach Lead: Ben Radspinner
Years in Club: 2
Ben is a junior in Aerospace Engineering. He focuses on hosting outreach events with organizations outside of the University to teach others about rocketry. This year he will be working on networking with new schools and creating more fun activities so that kids of all ages can learn about this club’s activities. In his free time he enjoys playing tennis with friends, listening to new music, and generally staring off into the distance.
Social Media Officer: James Garmon
Years in Club: 2
James is a junior majoring in Aerospace Engineering and is responsible for managing all of HPRC’s social media platforms this year. His goal is to use these platforms to increase engagement and document the club’s progress as they build rockets. He plans to utilize all available platforms, so be sure to check out HPRC’s various channels! James joined HPRC in his sophomore year and already holds his Level 1 certification. He is planning to earn his Level 2 certification sometime this year. In his free time, James enjoys hanging out with friends, watching movies, and playing disc golf.
Webmaster: Emily Cates
Years in Club: 2
Emily is a junior in Aerospace Engineering. She plans on keeping the club’s website informative, up-to-date, and looking awesome. She is excited to work with the senior design team to build this year’s rockets and payload, and she also hopes to get her Level 1 certification in the fall. In her free time, Emily loves to travel and build Lego sets and is a big fan of Dodgers baseball.
NCSU High-Powered Rocketry Club 