After advancing to the finals of the Bayer Big Ten Alka-Rocket Challenge, Rutgers four-man engineering team captured second place during the competition held at NASA Space Center in Houston. RUAlka members include Abhishek Chopra (AE), Anthony Pellicori (AE), Rut Lineswala (AE), and Shawn Sheng (ECE).
An Alka-Rocket is a model rocket often built using a 35mm canister and propelled by the chemical reaction that occurs when effervescent tablets are mixed with water. Often used in American science classes to demonstrate principles of chemistry and physics, Alka-Rockets are a staple experiment in Bayer's Making Science Make Sense® (MSMS) award-winning science literacy initiative. Three teams of finalists from the Big Ten universities were selected by a panel of judges based on the design, execution, and creativity of their Alka-Rockets.