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Mechanical design, as classically taught in engineering has centered around the application of stress analysis theory. While this theory is important, actual industrial design is generally dependent
...upon manufactureability, time constraints, and cost constraints as well as stress analysis. With this in mind, the SAE Mini Baja® competition was originated at the University of South Carolina in 1976, under the supervision of Dr. John F. Stephens. Since that time, the competition has grown to become a premier engineering design series. Three Mini Baja® competitions are held annually under the sponsorship of SAE.
A precursor to the SAE Mini Baja® was the Recreational-Ecological-Vehicle (REV) contest conceived by Dr. William R. Shapton in 1973. The object of this competition was to design and fabricate a two-man amphibious all-terrain vehicle (ATV) capable of negotiating 25 miles of virgin Michigan forest and several hundred yards of deep water. The six entries in 1973 primarily altered and rebuilt existing commercially available ATVs. During REV 1974, the eight vehicles entered included several built from “scratch.” The range of cost of the ATVs in the REV series ranged from $1600 to approximately $5000. They were indeed one-of-a-kind race vehicles and not indicative of a project that would simulate the design of a mass-produced product.The REV series was quite important in that it established the value of such competitions and demonstrated the interest in vehicle oriented themes (SAE Technical Paper 780241).
Click Here for Complete International History.  | |
| SAEINDIA Student members have participated in BAJA activities outside India from 2004 onwards as follows: | | 1] | Delhi College of Engineering (DCoE) participated in Mini Baja South Africa in 2004 and won ‘Best Improved Car’ award and stood 4th in Static Event and 11th overall in 2005. DCoE also participated in Mini Baja US Midwest in 2005 and was one of the best Rookie teams. | | 2] | Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute Technology (SVNIT), Surat Participated in Mini Baja US May 2006 and won “Chairman’s Award”. | | 3] | Vellore Institute of Technology participated in Mini Baja South Africa in October 06. | | 4] | R. V. College of Engineering participated in Mini Baja South Africa in October 06. | | Considering the above achievements, Dr. Kamalkishore C. Vora, sr. Asst. Director, ARAI, one of the Managing Committee members of SAEINDIA, suggested that we should start similar competitions in India. | | | On 14th July 2006, during SAEINDIA Managing Committee Meeting at Chennai, it was decided that SAEINDIA would arrange BAJA SAEINDIA 07, a common competition similar to Mini Baja, grown to seven competitions: three in North America and one each in Brazil, Korea, Mexico and South Africa. | | | Dr. Pawan Goenka, President, SAEINDIA and President, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Automotive Sector supported this idea and requested Dr. Vora to become the Convener of BAJA SAEINDIA. Friday, Saturday & Sunday i.e. 21, 22 & 23 December 2007 dates were fixed for this event. | | | | It was decided that initially, the event would be limited only to the SAE Student Members of India and could become international from subsequent years. The budget was approved in Aug. 2006 and very soon a small secretariat was formed in ARAI, with Mr. Sandeep Chavan joining as Asst. Engineer.
| The suggested venue were Surat (SVNIT), Coimbatore (PSG CoE), Delhi (Delhi CoE) or Saputara. The venue was to be decided based on logistics, local support, sponsorship, open area available, etc. Incidentally, Dr. Goenka talked to Mr. Sunil Chaturvedi, CEO & Project Director of National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) and he agreed not only to host the Event at NATRIP’s National Automotive Testing (NATRAX) site at Pithampur near Indore, but also to built the track for Static, Dynamic and Endurance events. | | | Dr. Goenka wrote to Mr. Sunil Patel, M.D. of Lombardini India Pvt. Ltd. for supplying LGA 280 (9 HP) gasoline engine and he agreed to provide 30 engines free of charge for this event. Dr. Goenka also declared that Mahindra & Mahindra would provide 30 Transmissions free-of-charge for this event. | | | This Event was declared officially on 15th Sept 2006 during a press conference in New Delhi, where the Logo of BAJA SAEINDIA was launched. Very soon a 20 member BAJA SAEINDIA Organizing Committee was formed comprising of members from the Automotive Industry, Research Institute, Academia and SAE International. Student and Sponsor Brochures were released and Student’s Workshop at various locations in India were arranged. | | |
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