WyoBaja

Each year the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) hosts a series of student design competitions to challenge engineering students from around the world to design, build, and race miniature versions of all classes of vehicle. In what is becoming a department tradition, the University of Wyoming's Mechanical Engineering (UWME) department has sponsored a Senior Design firm to enter SAE's Mini-Baja dry competition in Pittsburg, Kansas. The competition will occur between the 26th and 29th of May, 2011. Strict guidelines are implemented to allow the Baja vehicles to safely complete competitive events which can include an endurance race, hill climb, and acceleration test. These guidelines range from roll cage strength to egress drills to braking power requirements. The UWME firm, WyoBaja, spent the fall 2010 semester, in ME 4060, designing a Mini-Baja vehicle. The resulting design focused on saving weight while keeping safety foremost. A roll cage designed to safely hold a 75 in. tall (6' 3"), 250 lb. driver is the focus of the design. The vehicle will be powered by a 10hp Briggs & Stratton® engine.