Ray Clark
Rockets & Engineering
About Me
I am a mechanical engineer with a passion for rockets, composites, and space.
Here are some of my key skills:
Here are some of my key skills:
- CAD (Solidworks, Onshape, Fusion 360, NX)
- ANSYS FEA (Structural, Thermal, Modal, ACP)
- CFD (ANSYS Fluent)
- Manual Machining (Turning & Milling)
- CNC Turning (FAUNC)
- CNC Milling, 3 & 4 axis (Datron, PathPilot, SYNTEC, DSP)
- CAM Programming (Fusion 360)
- Composite Manufacturing (Wet Lamination, Infusion, Pre-preg, Vacuum Bagging)
- Python (12 years experience)
Experience
Jupiter is a two-stage hypersonic sounding rocket with the goal crossing the Kármán line (100km above sea level).
More details can be found in the link above, or in the projects below, however, here are some highlights:
- Launched and recovered scaled test demonstrator to an altitude of 50,000ft and maximum speed of Mach 3.
- Successfully designed and manufactured a carbon fiber composite solid rocket motor casing (2500C and 100 bar approximate internal temperature and pressure), and flight-qualified with hydrostatic and static-fire testing.
- Developed and tested head-end ignition system capable of instant ignition of solid rocket motor in a vacuum.
- Manufactured 100+ aluminium, stainless, and titanium components using manual & CNC turning and milling.
- Manufactured custom all carbon fiber and S-Glass composite airframe with sandwich composite fins.
- Anticipated altitude of 370,000ft and maximum speed of Mach 5.2.
During my 6 month internship at Sydney Composites I had the opportunity to work a variety of high-preformance motorsports products, and other composite products.
- Reduced Brackley wing weight by 20% weight using ANSYS FEA & ACP to optimize composite skin and metal internals.
- Optimized composite stackup and core placement of solar car shell, reducing overall car weight by 1%, improving stiffness in key areas up to 50%, while also simplifying manufacturing, resulting in reduced lead time and cost.
- Quickly iterated designs of new products using Fusion 360 CAD, ANSYS FEA, and rapid prototyping techniques. Produced engineering drawings with appropriate tolerances, and manufacturing plan once finalized.
- Designed and manufactured various molds, jigs, and tooling to prototype and manufacture new products.
- Determined suitable fiber, fabric type and orientation, and selected resin system for product laminate design.
- Performed wet layup for mold manufacturing, as well as infusion lamination for various products.
- Operated 3 and 4-axis CNC routers, programming toolpaths for product components and molds in Fusion 360.
UNSW Rocketry is the student led rocket team at UNSW. As chief technical director, my responsibility was to manage all technical and engineering projects the team was invovled in.
- Led team to third place in 30,000ft Commercial-Off-The-Shelf category at the 2023 Spaceport America Cup.
- Managed and coordinated five technical sub-teams, consisting of 20 student engineers.
Over the course of three years I was a teaching assistant for seven third and fourth year mechanical and aerospace engineering courses at UNSW. As a teaching assistant I would prepare and present weekly workshops, demonstrate and supervise labs, answer questions on forums and in classes, as well as mark assignments and test.
The courses were as follows:
- Finite Element Methods (2023-2024)
- Advanced Aerospace Propulsion (2022 - 2024)
- Flight Performance and Propulsion (2024)
- Mechanical Design 1 (2023-2024)
- Mechanical Design 2 (2024)
- Mechanics of Solids 2 (2023-2024)
- Advanced Thermofluids (2024)
Education
2019 - 2025
Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) (Mechanical) /
Bachelor of Science (Computer Science)
University of New South Wales
- Graduated with First Class Honours
- Distinction Honours Thesis on “Finite Element Modeling of Sandwich Composite Rocket Fins” #- 84.2/100 Weighed Average Mark
Projects
Jupiter
Neptune
Composite Case Rocket Motor
Developed and tested a carbon composite pressure vessel used as the casing for a high preformance solid rocket motor.
Archangel
T.E.S.T.I.N.G
Phoenix
