Student Success
Students Soar to New Heights in STEM Competition
RALEIGH, N.C. (June 4, 2025) – Wake Tech students reached the edge of space in a statewide STEM competition, earning top honors for the highest altitude achieved.
A team from Scott Northern Wake Campus, appropriately named the Northern Eagles, launched a high-altitude balloon to 90,004 feet during the 2025 N.C. Space Grant High-Altitude Balloon Challenge, hosted by Catawba Valley Community College. That was higher than any other team. Wake Tech competed against seven other community college teams from across the state, including Caldwell, Central Piedmont, Durham Tech, Forsyth Tech, Pitt, Surry, and Western Piedmont.
Wake Tech's team, comprised of 11 students from the Northern Wake Campus Engineering Club, worked across disciplines to build a custom payload with environmental sensors and a muon detector to measure subatomic particles. The students also affixed 3D-printed materials to test their strength in subzero temperatures.
"This project taught me how important it is to test your ideas early and communicate with your team," said student Patrick Klauser, who helped design the payload housing.
To prepare, the team ran bench and parachute tests, followed by a captive flight trial to refine their helium-to-weight calculations.
"This was one of the most rewarding parts of my time at Wake Tech," said Biruk Kebede, who worked on communications and embedded systems. "I gained confidence working on a team that was all-in."
In addition to launching their balloon, students shared their work at the N.C. Space Symposium and hosted a hands-on STEM outreach event for fifth-graders at the college's Southern Wake Campus.
"We got to inspire future scientists while showing them what's possible with teamwork and passion," said Faith Abernathy, who led the outreach effort.
The students were honored at a special recognition ceremony when the challenge was over.
"As project lead, I learned how to encourage curiosity and support the joy of discovery," said Cale Rogoyski. "What means the most are the friendships, the growth and the moment we all stood together knowing we reached the edge of space."
2025 Northern Eagles: High-Altitude Balloon Team
- Project Lead
Cale Rogoyski - Payload Housing Design
Patrick Klauser, Justin Majano, Pat Powers - Experiment Payload Development
Griffin Kroeper - Communications and Embedded Systems
Stevan Jelic, Biruk Kebede - Parachute System and Cut-Down Mechanism
Finn Cummings, Jason Bartus - Flight Planning and CONOPS
Jason Bartus, Abe Espinoza - Outreach and Public Engagement
Faith Abernathy, Finn Cummings
