Our Legacy
Our achievements are made possible from the support of staff and faculty at the University of Central Florida. Knights Experimental Rocketry is forever indebted to this incredible team, who provides us with the opportunities we need to succeed.
Dr. Michael Kinzel
Head Advisor
Associate Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at University of Central Florida
Read more about Dr. Kinzel and his work here
Peter Alfieris
Manager of Facilities Operations, CECS
Jacqueline Sullivan
Adjunct Instructor, CECS
Don Harper
Director of Technology
James (Jim) Essad
Manufacturing Shop Manager
Our Inspirations
The people who have made us what we are today
This page is dedicated to those who have helped us along our journey and continue to inspire us today. Without the assistance and dedication to our cause that these members, leaders, and supporters have given to KXR, we would not have made the strides that we have.
Christian Sipe
Former President of SEDS-UCF, Christian was there for the birth of KXR. While not a direct contributor, Christian set the example of what a leader should be. He inspired our founders and gave them a platform to build the foundation for UCF's largest RSO and premier rocketry organization.
Christian is currently a mechanical engineer at Honeybee Robotics, where he works on various projects such as the Crew Egress system for Blue Origin’s Human Landing System as well as Blue Origin’s ISRU program, Blue Alchemist.
Lauren Potterat
Former Avionics Lead and Executive Engineer of USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (B.S., M.S. Astronautical Engineering '21) After nearly two years working on Dragon Training & Operations, Lauren is currently a Starship Software Engineer at SpaceX.
Sebastian Lopez
Co-Founder of KXR and AIAA-SEDS rocketry. Dedicated to rocketry since 2017. "All I ever wanted was UCF to be a powerhouse for rocketry and space exploration. No launch no sleep. My passion is to one day be a humble servant to my fellow aerospace engineers working on small research rocket development at the highest level in government projects"
Charles Sharp
Co-Founder of Half-Cat Rocketry, Charles helped make our first liquid bi-propellant rocket possible with their guidance. He is currently a propulsion engineer at ABL Space Systems working on the engines for the RS1 launch vehicle.
Austin Sennott
Another founder of Half-Cat, Austin guided our 2023 liquid bi-propellant team. He is a propulsion engineer currently working at Inversion Space Company.
Our Partner Organizations
Working alongside one another, we are able to achieve more as a community than any one of us alone.
