Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Soarce’s path to revolutionizing the world of material science grew from the ashes of a blown-up rocket experiment while Derek Saltzman ’23 and Mason Mincey ’23 were still students at UCF.
The materials science and engineering majors had been tasked in a semester-long class assignment to build a carbon fiber rocket that would successfully carry the professor’s payload. While their design may have failed epically — while being broadcast live on the internet — they noticed one very important element that turned out to be the spark for their future company.
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Soarce’s path to revolutionizing the world of material science grew from the ashes of a blown-up rocket experiment while Derek Saltzman ’23 and Mason Mincey ’23 were still students at UCF.
The materials science and engineering majors had been tasked in a semester-long class assignment to build a carbon fiber rocket that would successfully carry the professor’s payload. While their design may have failed epically — while being broadcast live on the internet — they noticed one very important element that turned out to be the spark for their future company.
Follow UCF on social!
Instagram: instagram.com/ucf.edu
Facebook: facebook.com/UCF
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/school/university-of-central-florida
X: twitter.com/UCF
