Sc'70 STUDENT INITIATIVES FUND
All Sc’70 classmates are invited to support the next generation of engineers! March 2023 Update
Dear Sc ’70 Classmate
Our much delayed 50th reunion this past October was the best yet - great attendance and events, and multiple opportunities to meet with members of the Queen’s Rocket Engineering Team (QRET). A number of us even got to launch rockets with them on the Sunday morning!
Your Sc ’70 Fund supports QRET’s activities and helps them reach new heights (pun intended).
Since the Fund became active, here’s what we have done:
- Grown it from essentially nothing to a capital base of $349,000.
- Created a partnership with a design team (QRET) – the only alumni year to do this.
- For 2022/23, contributed $18,000 to QRET’s cash needs.
- Worked with QRET to establish a Strategic Plan for their team – a unique feature among Queen’s teams that has been enthusiastically endorsed by the Dean.
- Established the Sc ’70 engagement with QRET as a model the Faculty is now promoting for other student teams.
- Provided career opportunities to QRET students through networking facilitated by our class alumni.
- Set a goal of $550,000 as the capital base for the Fund by our 55th reunion in 2025 – a major challenge.
QRET has been active this year:
- Grown their team to a core of more than 60 students across all engineering disciplines.
- Designed a new competition rocket – predicted to reach MACH 2.2 and an altitude of 36,000 ft.
- Developed a second non-competition rocket – with a goal of MACH 3 and 44,000 ft. of altitude (which would be a record for the rocket motor class).
- Continued development of a hybrid rocket engine for initial testing this year. With successful implementation into a competition rocket, QRET would move into the advanced categories of Student Research and Design motors in the rocket community.
As Sc ’70 alumni, we should be rightly proud of our accomplishments, of the QRET successes, and of the alumni-engagement model we are setting for Queen’s student engineering teams.
Where do we go from here? We are committed to two goals – developing a structure for continuity of the Fund, and growing the Fund. As many of you know, growth and success bring the need for more resources and capital.
Initiatives in the works include partnering Sc ’70 with a younger alumni year to mentor them and provide sustainability and future guidance for our Fund, additional bonding with QRET, and a focussed, proactive fundraising campaign starting this Fall. We are also hoping to get more Sc ‘70 members involved with our Fund – if you are interested in investing some of your time in this rewarding endeavour, please let one of us know (David at field.croydon@kos.net or Wally at wallyjpalmer@gmail.com ).
We encourage each of you to contribute to the Fund in order that Sc ‘70 can continue to support Queen’s students. Any donation will help. Please contribute today by clicking on the Donate Now button below, or by visiting Queen’s secure on-line giving server at www.givetoqueens.ca/appsci70 (please make sure you designate your gift to the Science 70 Student Initiatives Fund).
Have a great Spring and Summer, and look for more from us this Fall.
David Field & Wally Palmer
Congratulations! The Fund is now over $350,000
Let’s keep Our legacy growing
update on qRET Activities - Posted March 2023
Check out how QRET, the principal beneficiary of our Sc. 70 Student Initiatives Fund, has been competing at North American rocketry events and has exciting plans for advancing their design and technology in 2023 https://qret.ca.
Impact of your Sc’70 Fund - Posted May 2023
Watch the video below to hear QRET members describe the hands-on learning and career opportunities they have experienced thanks to support from the Sc’70 Student Initiatives Fund in the past year.
Sc. 70 assists qRET with strategic plan for the dean - posted March 2022
In 2006, Queen’s contacted us to discuss the Sc ’70 Fund. At that time, few of us knew it existed, and the capital in the Fund of $6,000 (36 years after graduation) reflected that lack of knowledge. They wanted us to decide – fold the funds into a general fund, or make it into something. We decided to take it on.
From 2007 onwards, our class was made aware of the Fund through twice yearly letters, and the response began. It grew in the first 10 years to a capital of around $165,000. The distribution of the earnings from the capital is decided each year by the Dean in response to student submissions. Through this period, our earnings amounts were modest, and our support was allocated to be part of the funding to various teams – Concrete toboggan, Concrete canoe, Engineers Without Borders, Eco Vehicle team, CIRQUE (student conference), Advanced Sounding Rocket team.
Starting in 2016, we supported a newly-formed team – Queen’s Rocket Engineering Team (QRET). Our support that year was $7,000. We liked what we saw and told the Office of Advancement that we wanted to stay with QRET. That year, and over the next several years, a few of us met with the team to learn more about their activities. Consistently, we found the members of the QRET team to be enthusiastic – a rapidly growing technology, serious corporate interest, and individually – aspirations to be astronauts.
More recently, the Sc ’70 – QRET relationship has broadened. Our classmates have helped QRET members with networking and career opportunities. As 2020 approached, we discussed with QRET what else we could do. Over a number of discussions, the need for a Strategic Plan became obvious. Four of our classmates, together with a “friend of Sc. 70” outside professional Strategic Planning consultant, worked with QRET to develop a Plan. It was presented to the Dean in February 2022 and was well-received as it aligns closely with the recently tabled overall FEAS (Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science) strategic plan.
Below is an overview of the QRET Plan as presented to the Dean. It is rewarding to see what is developing in part as a result of our support, and how it may have a long-lasting impact on Queen’s.
Sc'70 receives a warm and hearty thank you
from Queen’s Rocket Engineering Team (QRET) - March 2021 video
Our ongoing support of QRET has enabled this enthusiastic group of next generation engineers to gain practical know-how and hands on experience as they reach for the sky. You can see and feel the difference you’ve made in the video below.
David Field, Sc’70 hand signs thank you letters to classmates who have given to the Science ’70 Student Initiatives Fund.