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In order to provide the engineering freshmen with a hands-on rocketry experience and teach them important physical and calculus concepts, a model rocket thrust test stand was designed and integrated with a data acquisition system. The purpose of the experiment was to show how impulse can be calculated experimentally. The thrust test stand features a precise load cell and a flexure load frame that ensures that only the thrust from the engine is measured. The test stand was designed and built by a graduate student so that the students in the introduction to engineering course can conduct their own experiments using model rocket engines of various sizes. From obtained time-thrust curves, the students were successful in using three different techniques (adding trapezoid areas using Excel, manually counting the number of squares under the thrust curve and using a MATLAB program) to calculate the impulse. A students' attitude survey showed that the students were highly satisfied with this hands-on experience in rocket science and integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]