ABOUT US

The Old Dominion Rocketry Club (ODRC) was founded in January 2023 by Brett Michal, John Burkholder, and Douglas Mason III with the mission of advancing aerospace and rocketry projects at Old Dominion University (ODU). Since its inception, the club has grown into a dynamic team with many members achieving high-power rocketry certifications. 

In June of 2025, ODRC became the first club to represent ODU at the International Rocketry Engineering Challenge, the largest rocketry competition in the world. We competed in the 10k COTS category, where we built a rocket with commercial parts and aimed for an altitude of 10,000 feet. Out of all 143 teams in all categories, we won 15th place overall.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

The Old Dominion Rocketry Club focuses primarily on educating students in high-power rocketry, guiding them towards achieving HPR certifications. We encourage connections between students, like-minded peers, and industry professionals, through regular meetings, student led projects, and guest speaker opportunities. ODRC is also committed to advancing aerospace and rocketry at ODU by networking with other aerospace clubs, encouraging personal research projects in fields such as composites manufacturing, and building and launching rockets that integrate cutting-edge technology. 

One of our core projects is competing in IREC. Each year, our students learn project management and manufacturing skills in a deadline-driven engineering project. We strive to develop and manufacture more student researched and developed (SRAD) parts for our future rockets, with a focus on composite materials, payload design and integration, and custom electronic systems.