This July, students from Hillcrest High School STEM Club (HHS STEM Club) and Hamilton Boys’ High School SciTech Club (HBHS SciTech Club) came together for an ambitious interschool STEM collaboration: HHS & HBHS HAB 1.0.
From an Idea to Reality The HAB 1.0 journey began in March 2026. Over four months, students worked through every stage of the project:
March: Project planning, research, and mission design
April: Equipment selection, purchasing, and preparation
May: Electronics development, programming, and communication systems June: Payload assembly, integration, and testing
July: Final preparation and launch operations
The original launch date was planned for 7 July. However, during final testing, the team discovered GPS interference affecting system reliability. The team made the decision to delay rather than compromise the mission. Engineering is not about making things happen as quickly as possible. It is about making responsible decisions, understanding risks, and continuously improving.
The Mission: Bringing High School Student Engineering Into the Real World The mission was designed to collect scientific data, test communication systems, validate recovery technology, and capture unique aerial footage. The objectives included:
Collecting temperature and pressure data
Testing tracking and communication systems
Evaluating radio communication performance
Testing a custom
designed parachute recovery system
Capturing recorded and real-time aerial imagery
The student-designed payload included:
Arduino processing system for onboard control and data management
L80 GPS connected to the onboard processor
SPOT Gen4 satellite tracker as an independent backup recovery system
Heltec V4 radio communication system between payload and ground station
DJI Action 4 camera for flight recording
Short-range live video transmission system
Temperature, pressure, and acceleration sensors. The balloon system consisted of a MetService 700 g meteorological balloon, approximately 2.6 m³ helium, custom-built parachute, nylon flight line, and student-designed termination system
The Launch Day
Launch day started early. At 7:30 AM, the main members of the project team arrived to begin equipment and inventory checks, setting up the ground station and launch site, and final testing.
By 8:30 AM
Electronics engineers continued testing onboard systems
Administration members coordinated with aviation authorities
Other students prepared batteries, antennas, communication equipment, and launch equipment
By midday,the Mission Control Centre was established at HBHS, where students monitored multiple systems simultaneously. At the same time, the Telemetry Communications Team travelled to a nearby elevated location close to HHS to establish radio communication and live video transmission. After final checks of the weather, and confirming or launch approval with the ATC, the team gathered together.
At 14:39:19, after a five-second countdown, HAB 1.0 was released into the sky
Dreams coming true
The early flight followed the predicted trajectory. Then came one of the most unforgettable moments of the mission. The live video transmission appeared. Students celebrated, screaming as they saw their own system received from the sky. For months, the team had been surrounded by wires, code, calculations, failed tests, and uncertainty. Now, the project wasn’t just some concepts written on a document. It was flying.
Facing Reality: Life Is Not Always Perfect
As the mission continued, the team successfully collected atmospheric data and monitored the performance of multiple systems. The weather conditions were highly favourable, with minimal surface wind, limited cloud cover, and high-altitude wind conditions closely matching predictions. However, during the later stages of the flight, the mission encountered unexpected challenges. Communication and tracking systems experienced difficulties. With the information available, recovery plans were brainstormed, and decisions had to be made.
Reflecting & Looking Ahead
This project wasn’t simply a small high school project. It was an engineering experience which goes through the processes and challenges faced by all teams in the world, something that cannot be fully taught inside a classroom. What begins as an idea on paper can become something much greater when students are willing to challenge themselves, to take steps forward. And though this year’s HAB 1.0 mission wasn’t perfect, it still held much value. It would inspire our future clubmates, and perhaps even other classmates in the schools, to persevere and work towards improvement. The team is currently analysing flight data and reviewing captured footage. More results and discoveries will be shared with the school community soon. This is only the beginning.
The People Behind HAB 1.0
➣ Allen Feng — HHS STEM Club Leader Administration, communication, research, coordination, and video editing
➣ Tom Liu — HBHS SciTech Club Leader Payload design, electronics engineering, programming, and leadership through deliberation
➣ Arthur Hu — Project Coordinator Administration, communication, logistics, transportation, prediction, research
➣ Finn Hagard — Main Electronics Engineer Electronics design, circuit development, and advanced programming
➣ Liam Shorten — Electronics Engineer & Photographer Electronics support, logistics, and photography
➣ Terrence Shi — Communication & Payload Design Communication support and payload development.
Launch and Technical Support:
Rowan — University of Waikato Engineering Department, electronics and radio communication advisor
David Yang — Photography and transportation
Feha Akter — Photography
Hannah Duong, Joy Zhang, Daniyal Phee
Members of HHS STEM Club and HBHS SciTech Club
Thank You to Everyone Who Made This Possible We would like to sincerely thank:
BOC Gas
MetService
University of Waikato Engineering Department
Rowan — Electronics and radio advisor
Mike Xin — Project Advisor
Special thanks to our sponsor: ⭐ IT Partners
