Gilles Messier

Probably one of the most interesting pieces of forgotten team lore that I've discovered. Here's what I've been able to piece together: (more to come...)
 * Gilles Messier was an aerospace engineering student at Carleton, and founded the Carleton Hybrid Rocket Research Project (CHRRP) in 2009
 * I can't find any information about CHRRP's other members; all of the communication with the team was performed by Gilles
 * CHRRP's focus was on hybrid propulsion R&D; they did not have a full rocket (although they intended to develop one eventually)
 * In November 2010 while in Ottawa (why? presumably related to their competition? possibly a conference?), Stefan DeYoung (WatSat team lead) met CHRRP, and forwarded Gilles' contact info to WRT
 * Presumably, Ben/Will contacted Gilles and conducted initial discussions; none of these conversations are recorded
 * In any event, Gilles came to visit Waterloo on March 19, 2011, and gave a presentation
 * On March 23, 2011, Ben distributed the initial draft of an agreement between WRT and CHRRP. The full text of this agreement is unavailable, but from what I understand, the details were as such:
 * CHRRP would conduct research into hybrid fuel grain compositions
 * Namely, mixtures of HTPB and paraffin, along with aluminum powder
 * WRT would provide funding and machining power for construction of a testbed engine and test stand
 * I can't tell if this was part of the original agreement, since it seems from email archives that Gilles intended to build the engine and test stand himself. Regardless, this is what ended up happening
 * At the beginning of May 2011, Gilles intended to begin construction of the engine and test stand. However, he ran into a few issues:
 * He was informed that he wouldn't be able to use the shop at Carleton during the summer
 * None of the techs at the shop were certified for the type of welding required
 * As outsourcing fabrication would have been prohibitively expensive, Gilles requested that WRT fabricate the engine and stand instead. Ben agreed to this, and fabrication began once the team was back from competition (beginning of July 2011).