Thought I might post some pictures of a SAE Baja project, a team of SAE Baja Members at Kansas State University have been working on since Fall of 2008. We designed the entire car, trying to exlude any dead ends in the frame, and minimalizing material and size to reduce wieght. Initially we build a scale balsa wood model, then used Autocad and solid works, and build each component into an ***embly. (Finite Element ****ysis, Autocad, Solidworks) We built the car, bent tubing, fully tig welded chromoly. The gear box was custom made, from two blocks of alumium Cnc milled to house lightened gears and kawasaki brand differentail housing. Built 60% of components in house and used sposor companies to complete the rest (laser cutting primarily) 90% of the components from scratch (obviously we bought knuckles, axles, steering boxes, etc.), 90% of the flat metal panels and boxed ***emblies were laser cut 14guage chromoly. I will try to post more photos, but let me know what you think. This is a SAE compi***ion Car, that will compete against 100 other colligent teams this spring. The motor cannot be modified from a stock 10hp briggs and straton (I know it seems small, but with a efficient drivetrain it will do around 40mph. And honestly, how chaotic would be if 100 collegient teams showed up with 40-100 hp miniture buggies.) You can visit SAE.org for more info on these compi***ions.
I am a former SAE Baja compe***or. I learned alot more building and breaking these cars than I ever did in engineering lectures. I also spent more time building cars than I did in those cl***es, so I had the opportunity to build about 6-7 of them. Back when I raced, we had 8hp engines. Our best finish was I think 6th out of 85 cars in the 4 hour endurance race. Good times, but I don't miss the finals.....
I was the president of University of Delaware's FSAE program from 2004-2006. The stuff I learned there was invaluable and has taught me skills I would not have been able to learn otherwise. There are a bunch of former SAE members here on the board; myself (UD), burger (Drexel), and Flatdog's son Zach (MIT). I'd love to see some pics of your school's car. The SAE stuff is super cool, but a bit OT so some of the board may not dig it. You working on anything HAMB friendly?
Yes, I am in a constant struggle to find time for school, but definitely operating a Baja Club teaches you alot of management and entrepreneurial skills above what I learned in several years of shadetree tinkering. Most of my cl***es are suited for electro-mechanical and manufacturing, so its definitely important for me to exercise my design and automotive skills, + actually use some of my privilege fees! As far as any HAMB friendly builds... Not really,(we are painting our car flat black?!) I just normally find alot of the building techniques and designs on the HAMB more interesting than "chrome universal bolt-on message boards."
Flat black?! You guys need metal flake! Seriously, your car looks great. That's awesome that you guys have a little more horsepower with engines now. I remember when you had to run that god-forsaken 8 hp Briggs. Looks like some good design and a light frame. Seriously, the skills you learn in SAE will help you out big time when it comes to finding employment. I know it helped several of my friends on our team get lucrative engineering jobs they would otherwise be under-qualified for. Far too many of the professors have never worked in industry and don't fully grasp the manufacturing process and the constraints they impose. Learning that from SAE will make you more marketable than your peers. I was a sociology and criminal justice major, and nobody cares about my TIG welding ability in law school, so SAE had less of an upside for me. Still a great experience though and I wouldn't do a thing differently. I own one of our decommissioned cars from 2004 and hope to rebuild it this summer to raise some hell at local AutoXs. I'll see if I can post some pics later
That is a sad, but true, understatement. I had many professors that were embar***ingly lacking in any realworld common sense or industry experience. I was the President of SAE at UW-Milwaukee for a few years. The experience you gain there is remarkably invaluable for the resume, but membership continues to have benefits. While I do longer design product for a living, I am in sales and continue to attend some local chapter meetings to keep up with industry trends and as networking opportunities. Good luck.
I'm the Current team leader for the KSU Formla SAE team @ Manhattan. It looks like you guys have a great car. Where are you competing this year?
Auburn Alabama. How do you like Formula? I really wanted to experience building one, but Salina is too small.
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