Midland: A group of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) students created history by launching their homemade rocket "RIMAU-1" in the International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) 2025, currently taking place in Midland, Texas, in the United States.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, UTM said in a statement that this achievement makes the university the first Malaysian team to advance to the final stages of this prestigious six-day competition, organised by the Tripoli Rocketry Association, which is ending tomorrow (June 14), thereby bringing honour to the country on the global stage.
The statement detailed that the team, known as the UTM Rocketry Team, is led by mechanical engineering final-year student T K Arykummara. His teammates include Brenden Huang Hong Quan, K Raahull, Izzat Idlan Amir Raslan, and S N Shivee Prakkaash, representing a combination of students from the mechanical and electrical engineering faculties.
"Interestingly, the team also developed a rocket parachute system as a safety measure, in addition to using ammonium perchlorate as the main propulsion system to reach the target altitude of 3,000 metres (m) in Texas airspace," the statement noted.
The statement further explained that the cost of constructing RIMAU-1 is estimated at RM40,000, while the total cost including travel and logistics reaches RM200,000. The project received support and financial assistance from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs (JTNCHEPA), UTM International (UTMI), as well as several other sources.
Meanwhile, Arykummara, in the same statement, said the rocket, named RIMAU-1, which is 2.8 m in height and weighs 28 kilogrammes, was built using fiberglass and carbon material, and is expected to reach a maximum height of up to 3,000 m in accordance with the height requirements set by the organisers.
He emphasized that the process to build the rocket was not just about assembling components but involved intensive research, repeated testing, and meticulous attention to every technical and safety aspect. "The handmade rocket took a total of more than nine months to build and was the result of teamwork, consisting of 40 people from various technical disciplines. The project began early testing in January and was only seriously worked on starting in March, with an intensive two-month construction period," he said.
Arykummara noted that the participation in the competition is not just about competing, but is a symbol of the team's spirit of innovation, resilience, and cooperation, bringing the Malaysian spirit to the international stage.
Meanwhile, UTM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Mohd Shafry Mohd Rahim described the achievement as evidence of UTM students' ability to compete on a global level and highlighted the quality of the country's higher education. He expressed pride in the achievement and hoped it would inspire Malaysia's younger generation to be brave in challenging themselves and being innovative in the fields of technology and space science.
The UTM Rocketry team is now awaiting the final results to be among the best in this competition. IREC 2025 brings together more than 7,000 students from 172 higher education institutions worldwide, with only 176 teams selected to compete in the finals. The official presence of the UTM team places Malaysia on par with other prestigious universities in the field of aerospace engineering.