Former SKYTRAC Co-Op Jayden Sorensen shares how hands-on experience and mentorship helped fuel Alberta’s first student-built liquid rocket engine.
When Jayden Sorensen joined SKYTRAC as a Co-Op student a few years ago, she was like most engineering students, curious, motivated, and eager to learn. Little did she know the skills and habits she picked up during that Co-Op would later help her lead one of Alberta’s most ambitious student engineering projects.
That project was Bio Rocket, a student-led effort to design, build, and test a liquid rocket engine powered by bio-derived fuel. What started as a six-person Capstone project at the University of Calgary eventually became a fifteen-member team that achieved something no one in the province had done before: The First Static Fire Test of a Student-Built Liquid Rocket Engine in Alberta.
An Idea That Took Flight
The idea for Bio Rocket was simple on paper but massive in practice. Jayden and her teammates, most of whom were veterans of the university’s rocketry club, wanted to create something ambitious that would push their skills to the limit. Instead of building another hybrid or solid-fuel rocket (which is how student teams typically begin), they chose a liquid-fueled engine, a far more complex challenge that required precise control and a deep understanding of liquid engine design, mechanics, and safety.
We decided to do a liquid rocket engine, which has never been developed before in the Prairies. It’s the most difficult type of rocket that student teams typically develop.
But the hardest part wasn’t the science; it was the bureaucracy. “Our biggest hurdles definitely were not the technical ones,” she says. “It was the administration and logistics, since it was a novel technology, there was a lot of hesitation and risk management involved. It took months just to get all the paperwork in order.”
Still, the team pushed forward.
Trial by Fire
After months of design and preparation, the team finally conducted a static fire test of their engine, a major milestone for any rocket project. The test ended in a detonation, but for Jayden and her team, it wasn’t a failure. It was proof that their systems worked.
“It was a huge opportunity for us to qualify our test stand,” she says. The stand, a mobile trailer-mounted platform they had built themselves, successfully captured data from more than 20 sensors. “We learned a ton from that test,” Jayden says. This data helped them understand the root cause of the failure and course correct. Now armed with all the data, Jayden, along with her team, plan to conduct another static fire soon. She says it should be a much smoother process next time.
That resilience, turning a setback into a breakthrough, was something Jayden credits to her Co-Op experience at SKYTRAC.
From Six Students to Fifteen
What started as a six-person Capstone project eventually grew into a fifteen-member organization. That growth brought new challenges and new leadership lessons.
“After the Capstone ended, we were in a position where we could recruit,” Jayden says. “We had to figure out how to onboard people, delegate work, and get everyone up to speed. It wasn’t easy, but it taught me a lot about leadership and teamwork.”
Those skills, she adds, came in handy beyond the classroom.
I think my time at SKYTRAC helped me build the confidence to lead. It showed me how to operate in a professional environment; how to work with people you don’t know and communicate effectively.
Lessons That Last
During her term at SKYTRAC, Jayden worked in the Quality Assurance department, a role that taught her how to test methodically and think like an engineer. “That Quality Assurance mindset was very helpful,” she says. “You need to be building off requirements, keeping good records, and understanding what you’re testing for.”
Those same habits: Documentation, Validation, and Cross-Team communication became cornerstones of Bio Rocket’s process. “At SKYTRAC, we worked with embedded software, hardware, and electrical teams,” she recalls. “That experience of learning who to ask, when to ask, and how to collaborate was something I carried directly into leading projects on Bio Rocket.”
Looking Upward
Today, the Bio Rocket team is focusing on sustainability by exploring how bio-derived fuels could play a role in the future of aerospace. Their current goal is to test the feasibility of using sustainable fuels instead of traditional petroleum-based propellants, a step toward aligning aerospace innovation with global net-zero targets.
But Jayden and her team are already thinking beyond rockets. The project opened their eyes to other areas of aerospace where sustainable alternatives are still lacking. They’ve begun exploring potential opportunities in both mechanical hardware and electrical satellite technologies, areas they believe could offer paths toward future research and even commercialization.
Getting early, hands-on exposure to industry through Co-Ops and internships, Jayden tells, can make all the difference. SKYTRAC’s own sponsorship and mentorship played a key part in enabling Bio Rocket’s success, giving the students the resources and confidence to pursue work that once seemed out of reach.
Advice for Future Engineers
Jayden’s advice for current SKYTRAC Co-Ops and young engineers is simple: Perseverance and Passion matter most. “It’s a lot of work,” she says.
You must persevere; that’s the biggest thing. You’ll have high points and very low points, and you must figure out how to keep your head up during the low points.
When asked how she manages to do that, she smiles and tell us, “Close your eyes and keep marching forward. Sometimes, you just must keep going. It really helps to have a passion for what you’re doing. We’ve been doing this for five or six years, and it’s that passion that keeps us motivated.”
For Career/Co-Op opportunities visit skytrac.ca/careers.
