Engineering students Jake Mackenzie Wood and Oliver Nicholson are helping establish a new propulsion research pathway at Macquarie University, designing and building one of the few student-led liquid rocket engine projects currently underway in Australia.
The pair are developing NERVA-ONE, a one kilonewton liquid rocket engine fuelled by ethanol-70 and nitrous oxide, through their undergraduate research and thesis.
Oliver Nicholson and Jake Mackenzie Wood. Picture: Chris Barlow
What began as a shared interest after meeting through the Macquarie Aerospace Rover Society has evolved into an ambitious engineering project spanning propulsion design, computational modelling and experimental testing.
Through the Macquarie University Summer Research Internship, Jake and Oliver continued developing the project while laying the groundwork for future student-led propulsion and aerospace research at the University.
The NERVA-ONE. Picture: Supplied
For Jake and Oliver, propulsion represents one of the most technically demanding and rewarding areas of engineering.
“Propulsion is where engineering gets real,” they said. “Rocket engines bring together a combination of different types of engineering in a way few other projects do. Every design decision affects the entire system, so you’re constantly balancing performance, complexity and practicality.”
The project comes as space research moves from the realm of government agencies and civilian science programs into a fast-growing commercial industry. The World Economic Forum estimates the global space economy could reach US$1.8 trillion by 2035 a shift highlighted by investor interest in companies such as SpaceX and Rocket Lab.
NERVA-ONE is a way to build the practical, systems-level engineering skills an emerging Australian-based space industry will need – from computational modelling and design optimisation through to manufacturing constraints and experimental testing.
At the centre of the work is NERVA-ONE, named after the Roman emperor Nerva, remembered for stability, reform and laying strong foundations for future leadership. The name reflects the broader ambition behind the project: creating a foundation that future Macquarie students and researchers can continue building on.
Designing a liquid rocket engine at the undergraduate level presents significant engineering challenges. To support the project, Jake and Oliver developed computational analysis and optimisation tools that allowed them to test hundreds of design variations while balancing performance goals with real-world manufacturing constraints.
Jake and Oliver with Associate Professor Fatemeh Salehi. Picture: Chris Barlow
The next major milestone for NERVA-ONE will be static hot-fire testing, where the engine is ignited under controlled conditions to validate the team’s modelling and design predictions.
These tests will allow the students to compare real engine behaviour against computational simulations, refine engine performance and continue advancing the project toward a fully operational propulsion system.
Jake and Oliver recently shared the project at the Faculty of Science and Engineering Evening of Innovation and Impact, offering the Macquarie community a look into the engineering, trade-offs and experimentation behind NERVA-ONE. Together with A/Prof Fatemeh Salehi, they also presented their work to senior Airbus engineering and innovation leaders, who recognised the project’s technical depth and practical relevance.
From what started as a Macquarie Aerospace Rover Society, the pair are now paving the way for Macquarie’s emerging rocket community, NERVA-ONE is more than a student engineering project. It is a statement of ambition from students working in Australia’s largest high-tech precinct, where education, research and industry partnerships come together to build practical capability for the industries of the future.