BAJA SAE INDIA

About Event

The BAJA SAE Series® is an event for the undergraduate engineering students, organized globally by the Society of Automotive Engineers, USA. The event originated in the name of Mini - BAJA, in the year 1976 at University of Carolina. Since then, the event has spanned across six countries – USA, Mexico, South Africa, Korea, Brazil and India. The BAJA SAE tasks the students to design, fabricate and validate a single seater four - wheeled off road vehicle to take part in series of events spread over a course of 3 days that test the vehicle for the sound engineering practices that have gone into it, the agility of the vehicle in terms of gradability, speed, acceleration and manoeuvrability characteristics and finally its ability to endure that back breaking durability test.

History

In India the history of the BAJA can be tracked down to when the Delhi College
of Engineering students participated in the Mini Baja in 2002 and this was followed
 up by other brave attempts by other institutions like VIT, SVNIT and RV College of
Engineering who also took part in the subsequent editions of the international event.
This interest was just what was needed to set the ball rolling and the Society of
Automotive Engineers in India (SAEINDA). With Dr.KC Vora at the helm and
Dr Pawan Goenka, as the Chairman of the steering committee launched the
BAJA SAEINDIA in 2007. As they ventured into unchartered territory of holding a
mega-event of this scale, the Automotive research Association of India (ARAI) and
 NATRIP came forward to lend a helping hand through an earmarked zone at its
 upcoming proving grounds – NATRAX, situated at Pithampur, Indore.

While the first event didn’t quite see many colleges participating, it was
the first step that laid the foundation for the BAJA SAEINDIA, it also
 provided the growing crop of engineers from colleges across the country
a places to showcase their talent and fuel the growth of the Indian automotive
industry. The events has since then moved from strength to strength and the
 next two events saw a much better response with over 140 colleges participating
 in the events in 2008 and 2009. In 2010 this number grew to 155 teams
registering for the event while 80 were selected to go through to the main
event after the preliminary Virtual Baja event. The event in 2011 also saw a
similar growth in numbers with 100 teams fighting it out in the main event.
 In 2012 too this tradition of growth was maintained as event gathers momentum
 with more and more colleges showing interest in taking part in the event.

For 2013 the event is once again breaking its participation records with
260 colleges submitting their registration. After the Virtual Baja event in
 Bangalore, 120 teams were selected to do battle in the main event that
will be held from February 14 – 19 at Pithampur, Indore. With a healthy
growth in interest and participation in the event each year the BAJA SAEINDIA
 is sure to only strengthen the next generation of automotive engineers and with

 international manufactures
now focusing more and more
on emerging markets
 this couldn’t be better timing.

The group start to the 2009
endurance race Team NSIT
in South Africa 2007
The chequered flag drops on
 the 2007 event Breakdowns
are common in the
 endurance race, A scene from
 2009 Junkyard Warriors winning
 the event in 2009.

Objective

Several factors contribute to making a winning buggy. First and foremost
the buggy has to meet the strict specification of the rule book. The philosophy
 hasn’t changed since the event’s birth back in 1976 – the teams still need to
 build a simple all-terrain vehicle for recreation purpose that is aesthetically and
 ergonomically sound while still being a fun and durable machine in the real
world conditions. The evaluation process for the BAJA SAEINDIA is a twofold
process and students have to clear the Virtual Baja preliminary round before
 they start manufacturing their buggy’s for the main events.

The teams are judged on six main parameters in the Virtual BAJA event which
are – their knowledge of the rule book, the design of the vehicle, the project plan,
 the design methodology and the design evaluation plain. A total of 400 points
 are available for each team’s design and the top 120 teams were selected this
 year to complete in the main event.

The evaluation process in the
main event is a different ball
game altogether and the students
 finally got to showcase their
 finished buggy’s to the judges. 
In the static tests the buggy’s are
 evaluation on various factors
 such as cost, aesthetics
 and the quality of the fabrication.
There are also many dynamic tests
 such as acceleration. Braking, 
maneuverability over all terrain and 
a hill climb test.But none of these
 tests are more grueling than the
 endurance race where the
drivers and buggy’s are pushed to their limits till a winner emerges.

The hill climb (above) and the obstacle course (below) are just some of the dynamic
 tests that the buggy’s have to endure to make it to the finish line.