In the email thread, Braun wrote the context and execution of the students’ tweets were “both disappointing and abhorrent in nature.” He added that there have been periods of time where SRL was not allowed to use the CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science’s facilities due to improper use, including improperly storing hazardous chemicals.Ĭherie Summers, assistant dean for administration for CU Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, sent an email responding to Austin Braun, former digital media strategist for CU Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, in August 2021 regarding issues the campus was having with tweets SRL members were posting, according to records obtained through the Colorado Open Records Act.
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“It’s beyond the capacities of what CU Boulder can even offer.”ĬU Boulder spokesperson Andrew Sorensen said SRL at one time indicated it wanted to manufacture and store rocket propellant on campus, which CU Boulder deemed unsafe and out of compliance with fire code and campus safety policies. “They really need to make motors that comprise about 30 pounds,” he said. On campus, about a quarter-pound mixture of the material can be kept - not nearly enough for SRL’s uses. The third priority for space allocation is student organizations.Ĭompounding the issues posed by the prioritization of space is the fact that CU Boulder has never had the space needed to store the amount of propellant SRL students need for their work, Nabity said. The second priority on the list is space for other mandated department activities, which can include outreach, department programming or mandatory training. The campus’ top priority is space for instruction, including classes and labs, and faculty research. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer) Limited by growthĪt CU Boulder, allocating space for clubs is the third priority on its Campus Use of University Facilities policy. “We are definitely behind our peers as far as space for research, so I think if clubs can have space on campus, I think that’s great.” Kushal Kedia, bottom, and Elliot McKee, assemble one of Sounding Rocket Lab’s rockets in their Broomfield lab in March 2022.
Her hope is that the campus’ 30-year master plan, which looks to expand on-campus housing and other buildings, will address some of the issues impacting clubs like SRL. Smith spent decades working in labs at CU Boulder. “Unless someone steps up and is a champion for us on campus, then we will continue to not have a place for student groups to operate,” he said. Through meetings with university officials like regent Smith, SRL hopes to secure a space back on campus with the room and storage needed, or at least something closer than Broomfield, Laceby said. Nabity, who used remote facilities to help build rockets at California-based Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, said he is not aware of any CU Boulder large-scale research that uses ammonium perchlorate composite propellant due to the storage and use limits. “One of the challenges Sounding Rocket Lab has faced is the University of Colorado Boulder has never had space for engernatic materials.” “The university tries to make space available as best they can to student-run organizations,” Nabity said. Although other clubs are able to schedule times to use an office or classroom, SRL has a unique need the campus can’t quite meet, Nabity said. But now years later, the group has been unable to find another space on campus that is sizable enough for building rockets or storing hazardous materials as more and more space is used for the campus’ no.
It’s just reality.”ĭuring the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, SRL relocated from CU Boulder’s campus to its new space in Broomfield after on-campus learning stopped to quell the spread of the virus. “We don’t have space in our department and barely at the college,” he said.
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“It was super fun to see what they are doing and each with their own focus while working as a team to build these large rockets,” said Smith, now the chair of the University of Colorado Board of Regents.Īlthough CU Boulder offers free meeting space through campus Events Planning & Catering as well as a limited number of permanent office spaces in the University Memorial Center, it’s not enough for clubs like SRL that need plenty of room to not only build rockets, but to store hazardous chemicals needed for rockets - two requests the campus can’t currently meet, said James Nabity, SRL’s faculty advisor and an associate professor at CU Boulder’s aerospace engineering department.
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