The PRC hosted the Rocket Test Group (RTG) for their 49th biannual meeting this past month on the UAH campus.

RTG is a national volunteer organization of rocket test facility operators. The meeting, beginning Tuesday, October 17 and ending Wednesday, October 18, was the first RTG meeting to be held at UAH.

RTG members meet twice a year to network, share technical discussions, and tour local facilities. Approximately forty RTG members and guests, including eight UAH students, attended the meeting at UAH.

“I think the meeting went really well,” said graduate student Dan Jones. “I was surprised by how well attended this meeting was. I went to the Spring 2017 meeting at AFRL West [Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base] which was obviously well attended due to the history of the site and we were given a fantastic tour there. We had approximately the same attendance at the meeting at UAH.”

The RTG meeting consisted of technical presentations on the latest advancements and best practices in propulsion technology. Attendees also toured UAH laboratories, including propulsion facilities at the UAH Johnson Research Center and the Mechanics of Materials under Extreme Environments lab in the UAH Optics Building.

PRC Director Robert Frederick was pleased with the outcome of the meeting. “The RTG meeting was a tremendous success,” he said. “Our team learned a great deal from our interactions and we look forward to future RTG meetings.”

“I am looking forward to attending next time,” graduate student Amit Patel agreed. “I enjoyed interacting with everyone in attendance. [RTG is a] great group of brilliant engineers in the testing industry.”