Baja 2004
Baja 2004
2004
2004 the University of Windsor entered two vehicles into competition. One vehicle was sent to the East Competition and the other was sent to the Mid-West competition.
East Competition
Printed July 15th 2004
2004 East Competition Results - 8 out of 62 teams
On the weekend of May 6th to 8th, a total of 62 teams across North and Central America gathered in Bromont, Quebec to compete in the 2004 SAE Mini-Baja East event. This year marked the first time in twelve years that the University of Windsor entered a vehicle into the East competition. The first day consisted of static events including a technical inspection and engineering design evaluation. At the conclusion of the first day's events, the team was in 14th position. The second day began with a captains meeting to outline the days events.
Top speed, acceleration, and braking were combined in the first dynamic event. The second dynamic event was the bus-pull, in which we achieved our best showing of the competition; placing 5th. The remainder of the day was devoted to the land and water maneuverability with a challenging suspension and traction event that concluded the day. The team's placement at the start of the third day was improved to 9th. The final day concluded the competition with a grueling four-hour endurance race that was a culmination of all aspects of the competition.Real World Engineering Experience
Following three days of intense competition, the University of Windsor Mini Baja team placed 8th overall. This placement did not come as a surprise to us due to our extensive designing and testing of the vehicle. The propulsion and floatation systems required many design iterations before optimization. This year's teams gained valuable exposure to real life engineering challenges.
The project was a great conclusion to our four-year undergraduate engineering program that combined theory and practical application. All of the team members are sincerely grateful for your support. With your donations, our project would not have been possible. Thank you for making our fourth year design project and the competition weekend such a success.
Team Members
Shaun Roopnarine, Sinisa Draca, Matt Saby, John Krzemien, Sachin Parmar, Wojtek Makarski, Joe Walshe and Bruce Durfy
Special Thanks:
Bruce Durfy, Bob Tattersol, Lucien Pop, Ed Oh, Jill Urbanic
Vehicle Number was 27.
The students in the above photo (left to right, back to front) are Ahmad Fadel, Chris Kelly, Bishoy Awad, Stephanie Masse and Bill Bombardier. These were third year students at the time, whom were enquiring about Baja. "Photo Taken in 2006".
Mid-West Competition Engineering Students Hit The Off-Road
University of Windsor DailyNews Tuesday, June 1, 2004
There is an endurance component to the SAE Mini Baja competition, but the students involved are finding out it's not just their car's endurance being tested.
The Society of Automotive Engineers hosts the international design competition, with teams of engineering students from across North America designing, building, and racing off-road vehicles which must survive the toughest conditions; steep slopes, bumps and obstacles, jumps of up to feet five in the air, and a four-hour endurance race against as many as 140 entries.
The eight members of the University of Windsor Midwest Mini Baja team, all fourth-year mechanical engineering students, have been working day and night to finish their entry in time to make the trip to Milwaukee tomorrow for the 2004 competition.
"This is the toughest deadline we've ever been given for a project," says the team's technical head, Kevin Spicer. "If we're not done, we can't compete. It's that simple."
All of the vehicles use identical ten-horsepower engines, so the competition is all about the design and construction. The Windsor team has high hopes, noting its vehicle weighs only 450 lbs. and has a specialized suspension that allows for 12 inches of wheel travel to handle tricky terrain.
Helper Dan Clement is in the driver's seat, surrounded by the university's Midwest Mini Baja team: Trevor Hassall, Kevin Spicer, Michael Matak, Cristian Linte, Brendan Vido, Rob Rieveley, Sarah Paterson, and Dave Sternbauer.
This year the team nickname was "Vimtoe" and the vehicle number was 31. Below you can see the stats for 2004.
Baja 2004
04-02-02