A ROCKET engine that can be fired safely and observed at close range has sparked international interest in the ideas of UK aerospace engineering student James Arkwright.

He came up with the educational tool as part of his university degree course and recently attended an international space conference in Korea where he presented his idea to experts at the International Astronautical Congress.

Arkwright - who spent the past five years studying aerospace engineering and astronautics at Kingston University, London - designed the portable 50-centimetre tall motor to help engineering students, academics and researchers to learn more about the mechanics of a rocket.

Made from graphite, steel and acrylic it shows students - from school age to degree level - how fuel burns in a rocket's combustion chamber and allows them to watch it close up.

The model is known as a hybrid rocket, a type now being used for vehicles intended for space tourism. It uses a gaseous oxidiser - nitrous oxide - and a solid fuel - acrylic, a common household plastic. As the acrylic burns, pressure increases in the chamber to produce thrust.

"It is a bit like when you turn a hosepipe on and the force pushes back on your hand," said Arkwright, who is 25. "The heat inside the rocket reaches approximately 3,000 degrees Celsius, so we have had to design something which can contain this heat and pass a number of safety tests."

According to Dr Barnaby Osborne, senior lecturer in aerospace engineering and astronautics at Kingston University, there is still not much known about this new hybrid type of rocket. But the design has the potential to help researchers learn how to make such rockets safer and more efficient.

"Although many private companies carry out similar tests to the ones James has been doing, their results are often commercially sensitive and kept under lock and key," said Dr Osborne.

Researchers can use the hybrid rocket to monitor performance and analyse how different types of fuels perform. This area of research was becoming more popular since the first privately funded, rocket-powered aircraft Space Ship One programme, added Dr Osborne. "The motor will allow engineering students and researchers of the future to carry out tests which ultimately have the possibility to transform rocket design."

The design will also help primary schoolchildren to get involved in engineering, believes James Arkwright. It has already been showcased to pupils at a school near his university. "School-aged children don't always know why engineering is so important, so it is good to be able to give them real demonstrations which help bring our work to life," he said. "Hopefully, this could encourage more young children to think about a career in engineering."

The rocket motor will be used by undergraduate students studying astronautics and aerospace engineering at Kingston University. Dr Osborne, who supervised the rocket-motor project, added: "Two of our current final-year students will continue the development of the rocket motor. One will investigate the way the fuel burns. The other will investigate ways to improve the system's nozzle which is used to accelerate the hot combustion gases to provide thrust.

"The system will also be incorporated into our taught engineering courses to demonstrate combustion and will be taken into schools. It is easily transportable and very safe, so much easier for students to have hands-on experience and see something they wouldn't usually see at close range. In the future we are also hoping to make the ignition quickly restartable - similar to the spark ignition in a car. At the moment it is started by a pyrotechnic charge."

This was the fifth time a Kingston student has taken part in the International Astronautical Congress undergraduate competition. In 2008, Victoria Lowe represented Kingston before taking up a graduate-training position at the European Space Agency. Alison Gibbings from the class of 2007 won the silver prize in the competition and then went on to work on ExoMars, Europe's mission to explore the red planet.

Dr Chris Welch, a principal lecturer in astronautics and space systems at Kingston University,said that James Arkwright's selection was an excellent achievement. "James has done extremely well and follows in the footsteps of Kingston graduates who have gone on to great things in aerospace," he said. "Kingston University is continuing to produce high-calibre graduates who can compete on the world stage year after year."