They designed a machine to pass tests that evaluate maneuverability, rock and hill climbing, acceleration and long-term endurance. They also have to design a marketing strategy and prepare a cost report for mass production. Then they have to travel to a competition, mostly at their own expense, which they sometimes mitigate by camping out along the way. And if that weren’t enough, they get no college credit for all the engineering work they do.
An adult version of WSU’s summer camp, Robots on the Palouse? Nope, it’s the campus chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers, known as the Mini Baja Team, working on an off-road racing vehicle. The event for which they are preparing and which eats up so much of their free time is the yearly “Mini Baja West” competition, and their vehicle must meet society specifications to be eligible.
Rag-tag farm boys?
The Mini Baja Team is based in the College of Engineering and Architecture, and consists of 15 undergrads, primarily in mechanical engineering, but also from business, agriculture and other disciplines.
The team began in 1995 and has become more competitive each year. When Josef Tarp — a 2000 graduate in mechanical engineering and a former Mini Baja Team president — participated, he said that WSU was looked at as just a farm school when they showed up for competition.
“We were competing with schools that had large teams getting class credit and an endless supply of money. However, that year we finished in the top 10 percent in the country. That says a lot about our team and school,” Tarp said.
Last year, the WSU team placed 19th in Mini Baja West, out of 130 teams competing.
For the fun of it
“I think that Mini Baja and other similar groups are a source of great pride for the university,” said Lloyd Smith, club adviser and mechanical engineering faculty member. “We generally do very well in competitions and I think it reflects on our school.”
Smith enjoys the students’ enthusiasm for the off-road vehicle.
“They come to me with questions about design or analysis. From the start I’ve been impressed with the drive that they have to build a new car each year. These young engineers learn many things from Mini Baja that we can’t teach in a classroom,” Smith added. “This ranges from learning about elements of the car — such as transmission, brakes and steering — to safety, organizing a (work) group and professional preparation of reports.”
Some universities offer course credit for participating in such rigorous engineering activities. WSU does not.
“I believe that our best students participate in these groups,” Smith said. “They don’t do it because they have to, but because they want to, and I really enjoy working with them.”
Practical skills
“In Baja, you develop your ideas into a design, build and test a car, and then travel to compete with other engineers,” said Tarp. “The Baja team requires fund-raising, design reviews and teamwork, all of which I deal with daily in my job.” Tarp currently works for Kenworth Truck Company.
“I believe that I am more experienced and confident than many people my age. Every year of Baja is like one year of work experience,” Tarp said.
Brian Thome is a fourth year doctoral student in chemical engineering and the club historian and team coach. He began participating in Mini Baja his first year of graduate school.
“I knew nothing about cars when I started, and now I know pretty much every part and why it’s there,” he remarked. “The students in Baja are hands-on kind of people with actual mechanical abilities who can figure problems out. And the report writing is improving because we better understand what the Baja competition wants.”
Thome also said that the team has improved their manufacturing and management skills as well.
Jockeying for position
In addition to exposing students to different levels of design and implementation, the Mini Baja West competition provides prime opportunities for networking and getting ready for the real-world job market.
Jeff Hall, a 2000 WSU graduate in mechanical engineering, currently works for Hewlett-Packard as a hardware design engineer. He said that participating in Mini Baja helped him secure his current position.
“I have been involved with hiring in the past two years, assisting on interview teams,” he commented, “and only 2 – 5 percent of graduates have the hands-on practice that they need.
“At the most critical times, everyone (in the club) had to decide if school or Baja was more important. If the car needed something built ASAP and we had a test the next day, we had to work hard to ensure that both got done,” Hall said. “Participation in Baja demonstrates the ability to succeed in difficult times or when time is at a premium.”
Thome agrees. “I have friends from Baja who are working at major companies, and I can always give them three or four resumés from current students, because in Baja, we established a mutual respect, and we trust each other’s ability to pick out good engineers.”
