06-05-06

Media Release

Student Built Car Races to Take Top International Title

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Perseverance, teamwork and lots of late nights toiling at computer terminals and in a university machine shop paid off for Oregon State University engineering students, who designed and built an off-road vehicle that has proven it’s the best in the world, winning two back-to-back international racing competitions.

The OSU Beaver Racing Team’s Mini Baja vehicle won first place overall at this year’s SAE Mini Baja West competition in Portland on May 11-13, beating 84 other teams from 22 countries, including teams from top U.S. engineering schools. The OSU vehicle then took the top honor again at the SAE Mini Baja Midwest competition held at the end of May in Elkhorn, Wis., where 141 teams competed, some from as far away as Brazil and South Africa.

“This clearly shows that Oregon State students can successfully compete with the best engineering students from anywhere in the world,” said the OSU team’s faculty adviser, mechanical engineering professor Robert Paasch. “This unprecedented success is the result of our keen focus on teamwork, innovation, entrepreneurship and hands-on learning here at Oregon State. These student engineers are exceptional individuals who worked very hard together to go far.”

The SAE Mini Baja competition series is sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers to give undergraduate engineering students “real-world” experience in designing, building, and introducing a new product to the consumer industrial market – in this case, a single-seat, off-road vehicle capable of handling any type of terrain.

Teams compete against one another to have their design accepted for manufacture by a fictitious firm. Students must function as a team to not only design, build, test, promote and race a vehicle within the limits of the rules, but also to generate financial support for their project and manage their educational priorities.

The prototype cars, all powered by the same 10-horsepower Intek Model 20 engines donated by Briggs and Stratton Corporation, are rigorously tested for speed, traction, power, maneuverability and durability in dynamic events such as a 150-foot straight line acceleration run, a steep hill climb, a narrow and winding maneuverability course, a rock crawl over boulders and rough terrain, a mud bog, chain pull and a four-hour endurance race. Teams also compete in “static events,” submitting design and cost reports and making a sales presentation to a team of judges.

The OSU team, comprised of 30 student members, spent months rigorously testing and fine-tuning its vehicle.

“We designed our car so it would do well in very diverse conditions, from maneuvering through a mud bog to climbing over large boulders,” said Jaynie Schonbrod, OSU Baja team captain. “I want to thank all of the people who supported the team this past year; we couldn’t have done this without incredible support from a lot of people.”