UBC Baja All-Terrain Vehicle
Our team is designing, building, and racing an all new vehicle for the 2019 Baja SAE International competitions. Your support will help us become a top competitor.
Story Description
At UBC Baja we design, fabricate, test, and race a single-seat, off-road vehicle. At the end of each academic year, our team competes internationally in the Baja SAE collegiate design series. Organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and taking place in the United States, these intercollegiate competitions take place over four days. There are an array of events to be judged in; scores are based on the team’s engineering design, business presentation and vehicle performance on the track over punishing terrain. To culminate, the 120+ competing universities and colleges race wheel-to-wheel in a grueling four-hour endurance race over rocks, jumps, mud pits and other obstacles designed to push the vehicles’ limits.
We are proud of holding a respectable standing while being one of the newer student teams on campus. Our performance at the Oregon 2018 competition was unprecedented for the team, with standing such as 7th in the Rock Crawl event and 23rd for the Design event, to achieving the 3rd fastest lap time in the Endurance race. With the experience and growth we have had, we see our potential to be a top 10 team this year.
We would like to build on the solid foundation we have created and refine our designs to achieve our goal. This year, we are planning on competing in two of the Baja SAE competitions, California May 16-19 and Rochester June 6-9. UBC Baja’s fundamental mission is to help engineering students develop their skills in design, fabrication, and project management. Attending competition is where all these skills come together and is the single most valuable learning experience, which is why we want to double the experience and allow all members to participate and gain from these experiences. However, we need your support.
Challenges & Impact of your Support
As with most design teams, students are not only responsible for designing, building, testing and racing the vehicle, but also for raising financial support while balancing the rigorous demands of our engineering studies and extracurricular commitments. In the past our vehicle was built with a budget of $15,000, thanks to our generous sponsors and grants. Most teams we compete against, many of which we outperform, build their vehicles on a budget of $30,000-$40,000.
Having this additional funding will allow our team to better optimize our designs, utilize more advanced manufacturing and testing techniques and ultimately improve our performance as well as cover the additional expenses of attending a second competition. Having utilized available grants and sponsors, we now look to you to help further our passions and aspirations to rank among the top 10.
About UBC Baja
Founded in 2011, UBC Baja is among the newest design teams at the university. Since its creation, the team has designed, manufactured, and competed annually at Baja SAE competitions across the continent. What began as a small group of inexperienced students has now grown into a talented, professional team.
This past year, UBC Baja has seen tremendous growth, gaining over 20 new members. Our team is full of knowledge and ambition, and Baja is an outlet for our passion and engineering. It is a place where we can take theories learned in the lecture hall and realize them in physical products. Baja is a team where collaboration is promoted, and teamwork is necessary for achieving a collective goal. It is a project where ingenuity and critical thinking are rewarded with a high performing vehicle to be proud of.
We have so much planned for the upcoming year and hope you will play a part in this journey. We will have our new vehicle built for competitions in May and June of 2019. To stay connected and keep up with the team’s progress follow us on Instagram (@ubcbaja), like us on Facebook (UBC Baja SAE), and check out our videos on YouTube. #BuildingTheLegacy
