Kai Taylor

Undergraduate B.S. - Aerospace Engineering

About

Latvian-American, undergraduate aerospace engineering student passionate about advancing rocket propulsion and launch system reliability through testing and development. Currently the Payload Strucutres team lead in the NC State’s High-Powered Rocketry Team, focusing on payload system design and testing. Contributing to the NCSU BEFAST Lab's Baby RDRE and Bladeless Turbine Projects. Experienced in propulsion diagnostics, drone development, mechanical system restoration and structural response analysis, with a strong foundation in aerodynamics and control systems. Driven to apply hands-on engineering and analytical skills toward developing efficient, reusable propulsion technologies that expand access to space.

In Progress

In progress project 1

BEFAST Lab Work

Assisting with pre-test safing procedures and test operations for BEFAST's Baby RDRE, and developed a MATLAB program to characterize start/unstart behavior of supersonic nozzles for bladeless turbine testing.

In progress project 2

HPRC Payload Structures Lead

Leading structural and mechanical design for HPRC's 4U-class autonomous rover — deployed from a rocket and navigating via GPS-denied computer vision — for the 2026/27 IREC competition.

In progress project 3

HPRC Liquid Rocket Engine

Designing the nozzle for Molotov, an amateur N2O/ethanol liquid rocket engine, using isentropic flow theory, RPA Lite, and custom MATLAB code for parabolic nozzle geometry.

Projects

Drone project

Drone Project

Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) Assembled from Scratch Freestyle FPV Drone

Structures lab

Structures Lab

Instructor and Student Led Structural Analysis Projects

Tripoli L1

Tripoli L1 - "Namejs"

Aka "The Prince's Ring". Flight Data Tracked with INS

Aero 2 lab nozzle

Converging-Diverging Nozzle Design

Compressible Flow Lab Semester End Studnet Led Project

351 Windsor engine restoration

351 Windsor Engine Restoration

Multi-year Restoration of Carbureted Marine Engine

Battlepack Combat Robot

Battlepack Combat Robotics Club

Plastic Antweight (Plant) Combat Robot

More About Me

Outside of engineering classwork, I tend to keep my momentum on or with Personal Electric Vehicles (PEVs)

Electric unicycle

Electric Unicycles

I've been riding since March 2025! Wheels: Wall-E (Begode EX-N) and Mint (Extreme Bull Commander Mini)

Electric skateboard

Electric Skateboard

Currently commuting with and maintenancing a Backfire Zealot.

FPV drone flying

FPV Drone Flying

My custom built 5-inch freestyle quad, named "Skyhop"!