Design of High Power Rocket Telemetry Systems- HPRC and AIAA -inperson

The AIAA New England Section is organizing an expert webinar session. Come and listen to the WPI High Power Rocketry Club discuss avionics, telemetry, antennas, and lessons learned over almost a decade of design iteration.

High-power rockets launched over 10 thousand feet require durable structures, reliable recovery systems, and precisely timed events to survive flight. While many commercial-off-the-shelf solutions are available for data-logging and parachute deployment, these products often fall short of features like long range telemetry. When attempting more ambitious goals like altitude targeting with air brakes and multiple stages, the benefits of state estimation and real-time data reception become significant requirements. The WPI High Power Rocketry Club (HPRC) has worked to develop these systems for almost a decade, building off the work of each previous year while competing in IREC, the International Rocket Engineering Competition. The most recent systems developed by the team won them the Best Live Telemetry Visualization awards in 2024 and 2025, along with the Jim Furfaro Award for Technical Excellence and 3rd place for the payload challenge in 2023. In this seminar, past and current members of the team will discuss best practices learned through their development of custom hardware for transmitting, receiving, and logging critical flight data.

This event is in-person only. The seminar will be followed by a networking reception for students and professional attendees

Speaker bios:

Peter Dentch is a Controls Engineer at Pratt & Whitney, working in engine system software, aerothermal modeling, and supporting engine test. He holds a bachelor’s (2021) and master’s (2023) degree in Robotics Engineering from WPI. While there, he supported the WPI AIAA chapter as Vice President (2022) and led the AIAA Jet Engine Project group in 2023. On HPRC he worked on avionics, telemetry, estimation software, PCB design, and led the payload team in 2019.

Max Friedman is a Communications Engineer at The MITRE Corporation. Max holds a Bachelor's degree from WPI in Robotics Engineering, class of 2025. During his time at WPI, Max was the 2024 Ground Station RF Lead on HPRC, as well as the 2025 President of the AIAA Spacecraft Development Club.

Dan Pearson is a Guidance, Navigation and Controls Engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL). He is also a current Aerospace Engineering Master’s Student at WPI. At JHUAPL, Dan works towards the development of 6-DOF guidance and navigation algorithms in support of multiple flight test experiments and FPGA-based hardware-in-the-loop integrations. Dan is actively researching through WPI, the development of a navigation framework for radio-based multi-vehicle cooperative navigation for Mars entry and landing. Dan was the HPRC Ground Station Lead for 2022-2023, EnP Division Lead for 2023-2024 and Simulation Lead for 2024-2025.

Will Scheirey is an aerospace student at WPI, Class of 2026. He is the current Electronics and Programming Division Lead, and previously served as Ground Station Software Lead in 2024-2025. In addition to HPRC, Will participates in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, having previously been the Vice Chair of the WPI chapter, as well as conducting research in orbital mechanics and mission planning through the Laboratory of Spaceflight and Planetary Exploration.

Ben Peters is an aerospace student at WPI, Class of 2026. During his time with HPRC, he has been Ground Station Software (2023-2024) and Hardware (2024-2025) Lead. Ben currently serves as President of the WPI Wireless Association, Vice President of the AIAA Spacecraft Development Club, and continues to design antennas for HPRC. His academic focuses are in mission planning, orbital mechanics, and communications.