We do big things: AeroBears prepare for a new season

Since 2019, the AeroBears, the Lenoir-Rhyne University rocket team, have competed nationally and internationally against teams from much larger universities with extensive engineering programs and consistently held their own. 

“It would be easy to underestimate us based on the size of our team and the number of engineers we have,” said team adviser Doug Knight, Ph.D., professor of physics. “What makes the difference is teamwork — our ability to work together, stay open to learning and respect what each person brings.”

In 2024, the AeroBears finished 26th among 122 teams at the International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC), placing in the top 21 percent. The following year, they set a team altitude record of 11,005 feet.

In 2026, the AeroBears returned to IREC in Midland, Texas, as a demonstration team. Their rocket reached 9,523 feet and completed a nominal launch — a clean, uneventful flight and landing that left the rocket ready to fly again.

Now, the team is preparing for another competitive season with a goal of breaking into the top 15 percent of its category at the 2027 IREC.

“One of our goals this year is to expand how accessible rocketry is for anyone who wants to do it,” said team lead and biochemistry major Kaleigh Sloop ’27. “We’re not a stereotypical team made up entirely of engineering majors. We have multiple disciplines represented in leadership roles, and I think that’s an important reason why we perform so well at competitions.”

The results extend beyond competition. AeroBears graduates routinely continue into prestigious graduate programs — with funding — and team members have earned internships with NASA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, among others. In the last two years, team members have won LR’s first Goldwater Scholarship and a Department of Defense SMART Scholarship. Sloop is currently participating in a virtual internship through NASA-funded L’SPACE.

Communications major Darby Jones offers another example. Jones had never considered joining the AeroBears until she took a science class with Knight, who recruited her to help with the team’s social media.

“I had never considered joining the rocket team,” Jones said. “Dr. Knight told me I could help with social media, so I thought about it and decided to do it. I still don’t know a whole lot about rockets, but I’m here. I’m developing a full strategy to raise our social media profile because consistency is really the key to recognition.”

Now the team’s social media lead, Jones plans to pass her strategy and what she learns along to her eventual successor. Plus, she is assembling a portfolio of work she can present to potential internships and employers. Her experience reflects the broader value of the AeroBears’ interdisciplinary approach: students gain practical experience in their own fields while learning to work across disciplines toward a common goal.

Passing knowledge along is a priority across the team this year. Several students in leadership roles will graduate in 2027, and experienced AeroBears are preparing younger members to take their places. Smaller test launches planned for this fall will give new members experience with the many moving parts involved in a rocket launch before they tackle the full competition rocket.

“We work hard, and we have a good time. We enjoy each other, and teamwork is a transferable skill for the rest of your life,” Knight said. “When you do big things, you develop bonds with the people doing them alongside you. That’s what happens with this team. We work hard together, we learn together, and we do big things.” 

Students interested in joining the AeroBears are welcome to attend a team meeting at 10 a.m. Fridays in Room 118 on the first floor of Minges Hall.