Rocket science: Carmel Valley teens showcase home-built rocket at San Francisco expo

Carmel Valley teens Braxton Herold, Matthew Iannitelli, and Miles Krawitz exhibited their made-from-scratch, thrust-vector-controlled rocket on July 15-16 at the Open Sauce 2023 “Celebration of Makers and Creators” exposition at Pier 35 in San Francisco. The two-day event, a brainchild of popular YouTube engineering personality William Osman, drew over 4,000 spectators eager to experience the maker community’s newest inventions.

Iannitelli and Krawitz, 15, and Herold, 14, all Canyon Crest Academy students who call their independent team “Aerofusion,” began designing the multichamber, Arduino-Nano-microcontrolled “Ares” rocket in the garage two years ago while still in middle school. Many iterations later, the rocket, which includes custom-designed printed circuit boards, a 3D printed two-axis motor gimbal, a parachute ejection system, and a calculus-based control system, was launched successfully in Ocotillo Wells, Calif., on March 5.

Believed to be the youngest exhibitors at the Open Sauce 2023 conference, the trio’s project was one of only 150 accepted from over 400 applications.

The Aerofusion team successfully launches its thrust-vector-controlled rocket on March 5 in Ocotillo Wells.

(Courtesy of Katherine Iannitelli)

“The best part of (Open Sauce 2023) was meeting a ton of cool engineers that I look up to,” Krawitz said. “It was thrilling to share the rocket project with them and receive their valuable feedback.”

The team had the opportunity to explain their project to Josef Prusa, the Czech inventor of the now world-famous Prusa 3D printer. (On whose printer their rocket was built.)

From left: Matthew Iannitelli and Braxton Herold explain the Aerofusion rocket to Josef Prusa, inventor of the Prusa 3D printer.

(Courtesy of Katherine Iannitelli)

The three future professional engineers credit their success to perseverance and cooperation. “This was not easy … but it was all possible as a team,” Iannitelli said.

When asked to share advice for other makers, Iannitelli said, “Find something new that hasn’t been done before in your field of interest, and build upon it.” Herold added, “Just start making things you think would be cool. Especially in the iterative design process, try new ideas even if they seem difficult or not likely to work.”

Aerofusion’s future plans include launching new versions of Ares, integrating a rocket into a space shuttle design, and building their Instagram presence (@aerofusion_lab).