Baja Team Excels in Competition and Cooperation

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From left to right: Ben Fleming, Daniel Beal, Caleb Myers, William Fritts, Alec Burgess, Ike Doss, Monty Roberts, Jordan Teel, Corey Roberts, Brandon Durden, not pictured: Caleb Selby.

Every year, a team of engineering students design, build and race a one-seater off-road vehicle. They get a set of specifications and they must use a 10-horsepower engine, but there are a lot of additional decisions to be made and problems to solve. Monty Roberts, an instructor in the mechanical engineering department and the mentor for the Baja team, explained that he can give them advice, but "it's up to them to take it or not. They're free to make decisions; they're also free to suffer the consequences."

This summer, the students took their vehicle to two competitions, one at Tennessee Tech University and another at Rochester Institute of Technology. The competitions featured several different tests, including acceleration, maneuverability, design, endurance and cost. At Tennessee Tech, the team came in 10^th place in the acceleration test and at Rochester, they placed 11^th on the hill climb test.

The Baja competitions are sponsored by SAE International, a professional organization that focuses on aerospace and automotive engineering. According to its website, students in the Baja competition "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."

The Baja competition gives students a chance to practice their engineering skills in a hands-on setting. "The most valuable lesson is getting to actually design a product from concept to completion" said engineering student Daniel Beal. "That's not something you typically get to do in your education. The experience of actually using your hands, actually doing something, is very valuable."

At the Baja events, teamwork is also a highly valued skill, and the University of Arkansas team learned the value of cooperation not just within their group but with other teams as well. "In Rochester we were able to assist the Venezuelan team get their car through tech inspection on the day of the dynamic events so they could race in the endurance race," explained Roberts. "After the race the Venezuelan team stopped by our trailer and wanted a picture of both teams with their car. I also witnessed our guys helping out several other teams using our portable lathe/mill to make parts. This aspect of the Baja SAE event is one of the main reasons that I continue to be involved."

Roberts was also impressed by the students' resilience and determination in the face of an unexpected breakdown during the endurance race in Rochester. In order to make sure one of their team members got a chance to participate in the race, the students pounded a bent brake rotor flat, welded a broken front spindle and got the car back in the race.

Although the Baja team has traditionally been made up of mechanical engineering students, it is open to all students. Team member Brandon Durden explained that there are roles for students from any major, especially business and art, because the team needs help finding sponsors and designing their website. They could also use electrical and computer engineering students to help them create an in-car communication system so that the team can communicate with the driver during races.