It’s not quite like sitting at the starting line, waiting for the green flag to drop, while revving the engine.
It’s more like sitting at the starting line, waiting for the green flag to drop—while building the engine!
“Time is probably our biggest challenge, sometimes we’ll be here working on it until two in the morning,” says Tyler Jacobsen, one of 22 students on the latest iteration of West Virginia University’s team in the Mini Baja Project sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers.
“Between class, work and having a social life it’s hard to balance everything, said Jacobsen, of Exchange, WV. “Our girlfriends hate us.”
The next competition is set for April 19-22 in Auburn, Ala., and will feature 100 teams from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, India and Israel.
“Sticking to building the car the way we designed it is the hardest part,” Nicholas Ellis of Clifton, Va., said. “A lot of times what you can build easily on a computer program is not so simple in real life. In any building project when you have a problem, you have to solve as you go in the workshop.”
The fall semester serves as the capstone class for WVU’s mechanical engineering students; they design the vehicle and build it in the spring. The students are asked to create an off-road vehicle that will survive the severe punishment of rough terrain and, possibly, water.
Click to hear Dan Rivenbark, a mechanical engineering senior from Hampstead, Md., talk about the experience of working on WVU's Baja car, from its design phase to building the car in a campus lab, and the educational and career opportunities the project presents.
The object of the competition is to provide the students with a project that challenges their planning and manufacturing skills. It’s intended to simulate the process of a company bringing a new product to the consumer industrial market. Students must function as a team to not only design, build, test, promote and race a vehicle within the limits of the rules, but also to generate financial support for their project and manage their educational priorities. Awards are given based on performance of the car, cost-effectiveness and design.
If time is not on WVU’s side, history is.
“We have never failed to enter the competition. We have won it four times and usually place in the top 10,” said Ken Means, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering who has supervised the Mountaineer Baja team since 1986.
“Our rivals in the competition are usually Tennessee Tech and Virginia Tech, who are usually pretty good,” Means said. “But on a more local level, Penn State, University of Maryland Baltimore campus and Fairmont State University will be competing this year.
“The events at the competition will be top speed and braking capability, land maneuverability, suspension of traction and a hill climb. The culminating event is the endurance piece where the cars will drive continuously for four hours over rough terrain.”
Each vehicle is powered by a 10-horsepower Intek Model 20 engine donated by Briggs & Stratton Corp., making the vehicle’s design crucial to its success. The car can travel up to 30 miles an hour and features a hodgepodge of parts similar to a riding mowers, dune buggies and all-terrain vehicles.
The WVU team’s initial strategy was to make a quick list of the pros and cons from last year’s car.
“We drove some of the entries used last year to see what we liked and what we didn’t like,” Jason Williamson, of Parkersburg, said. “Last year they used an elaborate design that allowed the engine to be quickly removed, but that’s not necessary for the competition. This year we went back to a simpler design with emphasis on a much lighter vehicle.”
“We actually have a lot of four wheeler parts on the Baja, but driving it feels more like a dune buggy than anything else,” Ellis said.
During the design phase, students split into groups devoted to the vehicle’s suspension, frame and transmission. Any team member is eligible to drive the vehicle but the ones who will get the most road time are selected based on body weight, time committed in the workshop and the most driving experience. Multiple drivers are necessary for the various events. The team tests the car in the WVU Coliseum parking lot and at a site in Point Marion, Pa. that has rough terrain like the courses used at the competition sites.
“It wouldn’t be comfortable for the same driver to do the four-hour endurance run in addition to the other events so we will have them switch out as the competition goes,” Williamson said.
As work on the car nears completion, the team is confident in what it has done.
“Our quality control is a lot better this year,” Jacobsen said. “We’re taking our time in building and making sure everything goes smoothly so we can spot any mistakes and correct them as we go.”
The students said they enjoyed working on the project because it gives them more opportunities for hands-on work and learning to use new equipment they have not handled before.
“A lot of our class work is just theoretical and about solving problems but with this project we actually get to see the finished product then compete and see how we did,” Ellis said. “We haven’t designed anything on this scale before.”
SAE, which originated in the early 1900s in the United States is now an international association with more the 120,000 member engineers around the world. SAE works to set technical standards for automotive vehicles and aircraft. SAE Foundation is the charitable arm of the organization that supports the Baja competitions.
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