Meet the Team
Taylor Hsieh
Co-Captain
Taylor is a Junior Mechanical Engineering student beginning his 2nd full year on the team. After serving as a part of the vehicle sub-team this past season, and completing a co-op with UPS Airlines, Taylor is ready to lead the team to new heights.
Matthew Cosgrove
Co-Captain
Matthew is a Senior Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Louisville. This will be his third full year on River City Rocketry and, after a successful season as vehicle lead, he is looking forward to utilizing his leadership skills this season as team co-captain. Having always had a passion for rocketry, Matthew knew he had to be a part of River City Rocketry. He hopes to one day start a career in the aerospace industry doing what he loves.
Alex Basil
Payload Lead
Alex is a senior Mechanical Engineering student at the J.B. Speed of Engineering. Alex plans to utilize his 3 years of experience with leading the payload team in 2019. Alex has completed 3 internships with GE Aviation.
Justin Johnson
Liquid Rocket Engine Lead
Justin is a senior Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Louisville's J.B. Speed School of Engineering. Through his 3 years of experience on the team as well as experience gained through 3 internships at SpaceX on the Dragon Propulsion group, he hopes to successfully lead River City Rocketry’s efforts in designing and building the team’s first liquid bi-propellant rocket engine in the 2018-2019 season.
Jarett Coyle
Recovery Lead
Jarett Coyle is a sophomore Mechanical Engineering student at UofL's JB Speed School of Engineering. He joined the rocket team hoping to make a future career in rocketry a reality. He is currently the lead recovery systems engineer for the team, researching and developing parachute designs and recovery methods. He has participated in various outreach events to teach grade school students about rocketry and astronomy, reaching over 2,000 children.
Jacob Marcum
Telemetry Lead
Jacob is a senior electrical engineering major at the JB Speed School of Engineering. This will be his 2nd year on the team. In 2017, Jacob served on the VDS team, working to develop electrical hardware as well as custom simulations to model the flight of the rocket.
Kristian Meyer
Data Acquisition Lead
Kristian is a Graduate Electrical Engineering major at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering. This is his 3rd year with River City Rocketry and has been worked with the Payload Team in the past. Kristian is now focused on developing the DAQ for the team's development liquid rocket engine. During his co-ops with Reynolds Consumer Products, he worked with the configuration and logic programming of PLC's as well as plant power distribution. He is excited to be working with small scale electronics and microcontroller programming on the team and hopes to enter the aerospace industry after graduation.
Erik Garcia
Payload Team
Erik is a senior mechanical engineering student at the University of Louisville. Erik has been on River City Rocketry for two years and is working with the liquid engine development team. In the past Erik has helped the team by using his CNC machining skills to machine custom parts for the team's payloads and structural components of the rocket.
Paulo Ribenboim
Payload Team
Paulo is a senior mechanical engineering major at the University of Louisville. This is Paulo's first year with River City Rocketry as he focuses his attention on the UAV payload's mechanical design. Paulo has completed two co-op's with GE Aviation, as well as a co-op at Raytheon Missile Systems.
Samuel Williams
Liquid Rocket Engine Team
Samuel is a senior mechanical engineering student at the University of Louisville. This is Samuel’s second competitive season with RCR. He is currently developing the fluid system for the liquid engine development team. His experience with additive manufacturing during his co-ops at the University of Louisville Rapid Prototyping Center is leveraged in manufacturing several components of the rocket. He intends to join the aerospace industry as an additive manufacturing engineer after graduation.
Blaise Dannunzio
Payload Team
Blaise is a Mechanical Engineering senior at J.B. Speed School of Engineering, who is also pursuing a mathematics minor. This is his third year on River City Rocketry and is a member of the payload subteam. He Is looking forward to collaborating with the other subteams to learn more about River City Rocketry, and is confident in using his knowledge and passion for rocketry and aviation to be a part of the team.