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Oakcrest alumna leads university team to rocketry victory

Oakcrest alumna Anne Marie Branch '22 helped lead the University of Virginia’s Rocketry team to first place at an international competition. Her leadership and technical expertise were key to the team’s success, earning recognition on a global stage.

"Sabre II — a 10-foot by 6-inch rocket — was the team’s second entry at the competition following its debut in 2024. It featured several improvements from the previous year, including an onboard camera that recorded and livestreamed the launch and a custom flight computer to collect data to use in the development of an air-braking system in the future for precision altitude targeting. 

The journey leading up to the competition was not without its challenges. The team faced manufacturing issues and redesigns that led to long hours during the semester. The team was able to get their first subscale launch of the rocket at the beginning of March. 

For Branch, her Catholic upbringing and the values it cemented helped shape her perspective on her role. 
'For me it’s a lot of looking at my role and seeing a deeper, spiritual aspect, and that, in a way, I am responsible for these people, and I want to help them,' she said. 'It’s just been God leading me along this path that has eventually led to me becoming the president of the team.'

For the upcoming school year, UVA Rocketry plans to refine its air-braking system for future apogee prediction, or determining the highest point during flight, as well as to continue developing a hybrid motor to use in competition as early as 2028. 

Branch, a senior aerospace engineering student, has been a part of Catholic Hoos, UVA’s Catholic community, and UVA Rocketry since her freshman year. Going into college, she knew she wanted to study aerospace engineering, citing the fact that using technology to explore God’s creation is what got her into it."

Read on the Arlington Catholic Herald.
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    • UVA Rocketry Team, lead by Oakcrest alumna Anne Marie Branch '22, standing third from right. Courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.

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