Petaluma Student Competes With Oregon Tech's Baja Racing Team

KLAMATH FALLS, OR — Twenty-six members of Oregon Institute of Technology's Baja Racing team, including one who hails from Petaluma, recently traveled to Lebec to compete in the Baja Society of Automotive Engineers — SAE —California, and test their self-built off-road vehicle for performance and endurance.

Carter Stewart of Petaluma is pursuing a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering at Oregon Tech and attended the event as part of Oregon Tech's Baja Racing team.

Baja SAE is a Collegiate Design Series competition run by SAE International. Oregon Tech finished No. 17 out of 61 teams from Canada, Mexico, India and the United States in the April 25-28 three-day competition that included static and dynamic events.

The static events consisted of engineering design, safety and cost presentations, while the dynamic events included an acceleration braking event, a maneuverability event, a hill climb, and a four-hour endurance race that pitted all the vehicles against each other on an extreme, rough off-road course.

Oregon Tech racing advisor Cliff Stover is also a mechanical and manufacturing engineering and technology professor and believes that combining an engineering education with the hands-on aspect of building and testing a racing vehicle from the ground up enhances student education.

"These projects not only strengthen the students' engineering design and analysis skills, but they are also a great way to work in a real-world team environment and to satisfy their senior design requirements," Stover said. "Each team is competing to have its design accepted for manufacture by a fictitious company. The students function as a team to promote, design, build, test and race these vehicles within the scope of the rules provided by SAE. The goal is to design and build a prototype four-wheel drive single-seat off-road vehicle intended for sale to the public."

Each year, Oregon Tech Baja students build a new off-road vehicle from scratch, sometimes using the knowledge gained from students in the previous year but many times experimenting with their own mechanical engineering skills and fabrication techniques.

Oregon Tech Baja co-captain Owen Haugh said the Baja team is one of the main reasons he chose to attend Oregon Tech.

"Baja SAE is an excellent way to enhance your engineering knowledge, offering real-world experience and problem-solving opportunities not found elsewhere at school," Haugh said. "Through participating in and leading it over the past three years, I have acquired many skills I might never have encountered in a traditional classroom setting."

The Kohler corporation donates a 10 horsepower off-highway vehicle engine to participating schools for the competition, and Stover says the engine cannot be modified. Students must focus their design skills on the chassis, suspension, and all other aspects of vehicle design.

"These events challenge the textbook knowledge of engineering, along with engineering students' imagination, teamwork, and creativity," Stover said.

The Oregon Tech Baja team began building its car in the fall, and it was ready for off-road testing in March. During this testing, they experienced parts breaking and practiced troubleshooting repairs, each time learning why pieces failed and how to avoid them in the real competition.

"Programs like Baja SAE are vital for providing the environment a university needs to produce well-rounded, effective engineers," Haugh said.

About Oregon Institute of Technology

Founded in Klamath Falls in 1947, Oregon Institute of Technology is the premier polytechnic institution in Oregon. Oregon Tech programs include engineering, health technologies, business, technology, communication and applied sciences. Offering bachelor's, master's and a doctor of physical therapy, its programs prepare students to be effective in their professional, public and international communities through applied, relevant learning and professional practice.

Oregon Tech has a residential campus in Klamath Falls; an urban, industry-focused Portland-Metro campus in Wilsonville; an online campus; and offers degrees at Boeing Seattle and other sites. Visit www.oit.edu to learn more about Oregon Institute of Technology.