About Us

Liquid Rocketry @ Illinois was born through the merger of two student organisations at UIUC: the Liquid Rocket Initiative & Turbo Machinery Initiative. Our goal is to connect students wth the spirit of space exploration through the design, manufacture, and test of liquid-propellant rocket engines. Through our technical projects, we provide members unparalleled exposure to some of the most complex engineering challenges in the world.

Learning happens during execution, not ideation

We set out to create a maximum effort rocketry organization; thus, we established Liquid Rocketry @ Illinois. We placed an emphasis on simplicity and taking things from cradle to grave, allowing us to learn about the entire process from design all the way through test, getting feedback from reality.

Meet Our Leaders

Eli Bennett

President

Nikolaos Monogyios

Vice President

Vahini Nital Patel

Administrative Director

Patrick Holt

Treasurer

Cameron Anderson

Membership Director

Dhruva Chowlur

Engine Lead

Ali Albaghdadi

Electronics Lead

Dhruv Satish

Electronics Lead

Nathan Kim

Testing Lead

Aarya Khapre

Pumps Team Lead

Takumu Hamanaka

Flight Vehicle Lead

Amruth Seetharaman

Simulations Lead

Former Leads

Ian Brown

Liquid Rocket Initiative Co-Founder -

Current SpaceX Employee

Bartosz Wielgos