Driven to Win
Spring is around the corner, and it’s once again time to prepare for the big race. The drivers strap on their helmets. The pit crew fine tunes the engine. Right feet twitch in anticipation of flooring the gas at the first wave of the green flag.
It’s not NASCAR; it’s a car-obsessed club of mechanical engineering students right here at UMBC. For over two decades, members of UMBC’s chapter of The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) have designed, built, tested and raced a pint-sized but powerful dune-buggy style car in a national contest that pushes their reflexes and brainpower – as well as their cars gears, tires and pistons – to the absolute limit.
“We expect to reach our goal of a top 20 finish this year,” says Robert Barrick, a senior mechanical engineering major and public affairs officer of the UMBC SAE chapter. “The plan is to take two cars to the race this time, which we’ve not been able to do before.”
As they gear up for the national race (held in June in Milwaukee), the UMBC team has an added edge this year – real-world experience from one of the top technology and engineering companies in the nation – Lockheed Martin. The team has also received support and sponsorship from Black and Decker, Siemens Building Technologies and UMBC mechanical engineering professor Uri Tasch.
According to Panos Charalambides, chair of mechanical engineering at UMBC, the Mini-Baja experience is impressive to employers. “Last May, Toyota of North America design group hired one of our students, Alex Marinelli, who competed with graduates from schools with established strengths in automotive engineering,” says Charalambides. “Alex was selected because of his intimate experience with the Mini Baja project.”
Barrick and his fellow team members have spent much of the fall semester holed up in a small machine shop located in the basement of the Technology Research Center (TRC) building. They plan to begin testing the two “mini-baja” cars over Spring Break.
The contest isn’t necessarily won by the fastest car. In addition to top speed, the SAE regional competitions are a gearhead’s dream combination of challenges measuring acceleration, braking distance, maneuverability, and even a tractor pull and endurance race. Points are also given for important design elements including comfort, safety and originality.
The mini-baja experience is a great way for mechanical engineering students to apply lessons from the classroom to the real world. Professor Bill Wood, who teaches ENME 444 (Mechanical Engineering Systems Design), is also the team’s faculty advisor.
In 2003, the UMBC team placed 54th out of 119 teams, but that was using a car designed in 1997 driven by team members new to the contest. “This year we’re more experienced and we have two much better cars,” says Barrick. “Our eye is on making the top 20 SAE teams in the country.”
The UMBC SAE chapter meets every Wednesday at 1 p.m. in ENG301. Students of all majors interested in helping with this year’s race team or the club’s First Annual Car Show, tentatively scheduled for April 17, should contact sae@umbc.edu or drop by a Wednesday meeting.
