PCE’s Intercollegiate Rocketry and Aero Engineering Club (IRAEC) is about more than just building and launching rockets. Founded in 2023 by PCE student Mia Phillips, IRAEC aims to create a well-rounded engineering community of students from different backgrounds and disciplines. Through technical projects, education, professional development, industry networking, and community outreach, students build a community while exploring engineering.

As a highly interdisciplinary field, aerospace engineering has the potential to bring together students from multiple disciplines who might not otherwise get the opportunity to work with one another. Through IRAEC, students from different backgrounds collaborate around the club’s three main pillars: engineering projects, education, and networking and outreach. Students in IRAEC supplement what they’ve learned in the classroom.  This includes developing leadership skills, making professional connections, exploring career paths, and contributing to the community. 

A recent development for IRAEC is their entry into the 2027 International Rocket Engineering Competition, the world’s largest intercollegiate high-powered rocketry competition. In June the IRAEC team will head to Midland, Texas to compete in the 10,000-foot commercial-off-the-shelf motor category. They will have to coordinate every part of a rocket’s development, from design to launch. In this competition, students will gain experience in a variety of areas beyond just the technical aspects. Project management, documentation, budgeting, and, most importantly, collaboration is needed to achieve something as monumental as a rocket launch. 

IRAEC strives for diversity and accessibility, along with being a space in which students feel comfortable exploring engineering, regardless of their prior experience. All the students that make up IRAEC bring a different set of skills and interests to the group; some are focused on programming, others manufacturing, and some just want to make connections.  

Mia Phillips, a senior in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and President of IRAEC, founded the club because she wanted to create more opportunities for students interested in aerospace engineering. Growing up with a mother who was a pilot in the Air Force, Phillips had early exposure to engineering and aerospace. 

“I grew up seeing a woman succeed in a field that has historically been dominated by men,” says Phillips, “and I think that gave me the confidence to pursue computer engineering and eventually take on leadership roles in similar environments." 

Phillips wants to create a sense of confidence and belonging for other students, which she has been able to do through IRAEC, along with Women in Aviation International (WAIAM). Both groups have worked to encourage more women to pursue STEM fields, especially those in which women are historically underrepresented.

Beyond competitions and their own community, IRAEC places a strong emphasis on outreach to the broader world around them. They have participated in STEM outreach programs, including Grand Rapids Tech Week, to inspire the next generation of engineers. 

Through skill development, outreach, and community building, this club is a place where people can collaborate and ideas can grow. According to Phillips, “IRAEC has become an organization where the rocket is really just the starting point.”