The UVM Catamount Racing Team placed 35th in endurance, 38th in hill climb, 41st in acceleration, and 55th overall with their UVM Baja vehicle out of 102 teams that competed during the 2012 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Baja East national race. Hosted by Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama and by the National Center for Asphalt Testing (NCAT), the race was held April 19-22, 2012.
“Overall we are satisfied with our performance,” said Sam Flinkström, President of the team. “Had we just a little more time to test our design and adjust our transmission, we could have done better.”
Baja SAE is an intercollegiate design competition with over 100 university and college participants from around the Americas, Africa, and Europe. Throughout the year students; design, build, and test an off-road buggy to compete in both static and dynamic events.
Static events included a written 15-page design report speaking to the engineering of the vehicles suspension, steering, drive train, frame and other unique aspects, including a cost report that detailed the marketability, manufacturability, and price point associated with mass production of the vehicle. During the static event, members were given the opportunity to defend design decisions during their Design Presentation as well as answer challenging engineering questions in front of a panel of judges.
This year the UVM Baja team worked diligently to re-engineer the front suspension system and implement a new transmission system into the newly modified and lightweight frame. Presidents Sam Flinkström (originally from South Berwick, Maine) and Owen Teetor (originally from Poultney, Vermont); as well as Mackie Spencer (originally from Tampa, Florida) took on this task in part to satisfy their senior design requirement in mechanical engineering.
SAE International is a global association of more than 128,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries, with core competencies in life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development.
For pictures visit: http://www.facebook.com/UvmMiniBaja
For more information visit on SAE Baja: http://students.sae.org/competitions/bajasae/about.htm
For more information on the Baja East race visit: www.bajasaeauburn.com/
For more information on the UVM SAE Baja visit: http://thelynx.collegiatelink.net/organization/society-of-automotive-engineers--mini-baja
Contact information:
Philipp Foerster: pfoerst1@uvm.edu
Tyler Arnold: tarnold@uvm.edu
Visitors: Baja Room - 122C Votey Hall (South-West Corner, 1 Floor) from 9am-4pm, M-F