From 9 to 15 August, Instituto Superior Técnico hosted the five finalist teams of the Airbus Sloshing Rocket Workshop, an international competition organised this year for the first time in Portugal by the Aerospace Engineering Students’ Organisation at Técnico (AeroTéc), with the sponsorship of the Airbus company.

Since 2019, the competition has aimed to simulate the conditions experienced by real aircraft by building low-cost models powered by water pressure and using reusable materials, with a special focus on mitigating sloshing – the movement of liquids in partially filled tanks, a phenomenon that occurs in various aircraft, generating forces and movements that disrupt the vehicle’s stability and control.

This edition brought together more than 150 students and a record number of teams registered, totalling 30. The five finalist teams, composed of students from the universities of Bologna (Italy), Berlin (Germany), Delft (Netherlands), Cairo (Egypt) and Gebze (Turkey), participated in the rocket development activities held at Técnico – Alameda campus.

The final event took place on 14 August at Air Base No. 1 in Sintra, with the logistical support of the Portuguese Air Force. On the last day of the competition, the Italian team came out on top, achieving a record flight distance of 26 metres horizontally.

Alexandre Couto, a Técnico master’s student (Aerospace Engineering), highlighted “the event fosters collaboration between leading companies in the aerospace industry and students” and praised AeroTéc’s performance as the event organiser. “AeroTéc faced many challenges, such as choosing the launching site, identifying the personal needs of each participant, and financial management”, he says. Rodrigo Ferreira, a student in the same course, emphasises “bringing the academic community closer to industry and the Portuguese Armed Forces” as “a major positive point” of the event.