Student Hunter Casbeer came to Kettering University with the aim of transforming his passion for building rockets to other fields of engineering. He’s accomplished that goal but that hasn’t altered his feelings for his first engineering love.   

“This thing has been a passion that I’ve had since high school,” Casbeer said. “This is actually what brought me here to Kettering.”

While in high school in Fredericksburg, Texas, he enrolled in the school’s groundbreaking rocket program which historically broke the speed of sound in 1998 and has developed rockets capable of reaching space since 2008. He participated in both of these projects in his junior and senior year respectively.

Casbeer, in partnership with Thomas Vendittelli, Program Manager for the Kettering University Formula SAE team, has embarked on a personal assignment to build a rocket at Kettering that can break the speed of sound. Before they achieve their ultimate goal, there’s a series of certification steps that they need to complete. The first step requires the two to travel to Muskegon, Michigan, to have their Level 1 rocket certified by the National Association of Rocketery.

“The first level is just assembly process – getting the basic understanding on how to put a rocket together,” Casbeer said.

Casbeer purchased his cardboard body, engine tubes and motor systems online to work towards Level 1 certification. Upon achieving this certification, his next step is to build a supersonic rocket on campus using aluminum and fiberglass in hopes of achieving Level 2 and 3 certification before he graduates in 2016.

“We want to make it totally in house,” Casbeer said. “My goal with this entire thing is to see if it’s possible to launch a rocket that can break the speed of sound before I graduate.”

Casbeer will graduate from Kettering with a degree in Electrical Engineering in Spring 2016. That gives him approximately a year to accomplish both his academic and non-academic goals. The latter being as much of a reason for him attending Kettering as the former.  

“This is what this school is about -- building stuff,” Casbeer said. “I’m hoping to continue to help spark that movement.”