The NDSU Baja team is participating in the SAE Baja competition at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, June 9-12.
The annual event is organized by SAE International for its student members. All vehicles are powered by a 10-horsepower Intek Model 20 engine donated by Briggs and Stratton Corp.
Eight NDSU mechanical engineering students have traveled to the competition this year, led by seniors Jeremy Markstrom, Logan Hanson and Justin Neisius, who designed the vehicle as part of their senior design project.
Other participating students include Robert Wanous, Ryan Erickson, Cole Maxwell, Jared Brinkman and Blake Thiesse.
“These competitions provide a unique opportunity for students to apply the skills and knowledge they have learned in the classroom to the design of an actual product,” said team faculty adviser Alan Kallmeyer, professor and chair of mechanical engineering. “The students have had to design, analyze and manufacture every system on that vehicle. It is a big undertaking, but one with great value to their engineering education.”
The event features competitions that simulate real-world engineering design projects and related challenges. Engineering students design and build off-road vehicles to survive rough terrain.
The objective is to provide SAE student members with a challenging project that involves the design, planning and manufacturing tasks needed to introduce a new product to the consumer industrial market. Teams vie to have their design accepted for manufacture by a fictitious firm. Students design, build, test, promote and race a vehicle within the limits of the rules. In addition, teams must generate financial support for their project as well as manage their educational priorities.
SAE International, which was established as the Society of Automotive Engineers, is a global association of more than 128,000 engineers and technical professionals in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries.
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