Connect the crew
Unite Seneca students around launch-ready technical work. Shared accountability, shared tooling, shared data.
About
Engineering students building real hardware, documented in the open.
Founded in 2025, Astra Labs is a student-run engineering group at Seneca Polytechnic. The mission is specific: build Pioneer for Launch Canada 2026, and leave behind a complete record of how we did it.
Goals
Build the vehicle, fund the work, and compete with traceable documentation.
Teach the process
Make aerospace engineering, systems thinking, safety protocols, and documentation visible to new members at every skill level.
Raise the program
Secure funding for vehicle materials, ground-test equipment, travel, and competition fees. Sponsorship is a core skill, not an afterthought.
Show the evidence
Represent Seneca at Launch Canada with a student-built vehicle and a complete traceable record of every design decision.
Leadership
| Name | Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Saiprasad Dhodi | President · Avionics & Payload Lead | Strategic direction, competition readiness, and cross-subsystem integration. |
| Roger Lungsee | Vice-President · Mechanical | Team operations, fabrication coordination, and technical support. |
| Danielle Heron | Treasurer | Club finances, sponsorship outreach, and budget stewardship. |
Core values
How we work together
Reliability over complexity
Flight-critical systems lean on proven commercial off-the-shelf hardware so the vehicle and payload survive the mission.
Safety without compromise
Every member is a safety officer. Launch Canada and CAR codes are non-negotiable.
Radical transparency
Subsystem leads share interfaces and decisions through one documented source of truth.
Redundancy as standard
Recovery, logging, and critical paths are designed so one failure does not end the mission.
Documentation for the future
Engineering is half technical and half logistics. We document so the next Seneca crew starts ahead of us.
Institutional support
Built with faculty and campus partners.
Faculty advisors: Sundar Manku, Dieter Hastings, David Jong, Harry Maghera.
Supported by Seneca Helix and School of Information Technology Administration & Security.
Technical disciplines
Aerospace work spans many specialities
Aerodynamics, Structural analysis, Propulsion, Electronics, Control systems, Safety protocols, Project management, Manufacturing, CAD design.