Every year, hundreds of hours are spent by a group of Michigan State students to build the perfect off-roading vehicle for a relatively unknown club.
The Baja Racing team is made up of 40 MSU students, who go through many stages designing, building, testing, and ultimately racing off-road buggy vehicles in competitions within the Society of American Engineers (SAE). These vehicles must be made durable, as they are tested in rough terrain and even in water.
“The process is design, manufacture, and compete,” said MSU Baja Project Manager Jack Hannon, a senior accounting major. “We have many subsystems on the car (chassis, brakes, steering, drivetrain, suspension, etc) and each one has a lead that is in charge of the design and manufacturing of their subsystem.”
Hannon said the group leads have a lot of responsibility to meet deadlines set by the project manager and chief engineer. Each lead designs their subsystem, then the group has alumni make sure their idea is feasible. After that, they move into manufacturing, where each team makes 90% of the parts of the vehicles themselves.
“Pretty much everything on the car is manufactured by us besides engine, shocks, brakes, transmission, and wheels and tires,” said Chief Engineer Max Fried, a junior engineering student. “We go full scale manufacturing until we complete the car.”
Once the team has all of its parts made, assembling the car can begin and the group spends the rest of its time before competition testing the car for weak points. After that the Baja vehicles are ready to compete.
The Baja team has a practice track located south of MSU’s campus where it can test its vehicles before and after competitions. The group gathers data and tests the durability of its build when going out for testing sessions.
“My favorite part of being on the baja team is the learning that takes place on the team,” said Fried. “Most of the people who join the team have little to no manufacturing/design experience. They will then be all that it actually takes to have an idea turn into a design and ultimately into a real part that we put on a car and go test/compete with.”
Baja Racing is a fun and entertaining way to diversify the college experience, but it also gives MSU’s engineering students real world experience in problem solving and working with a team.
“The members get first hand experience of so many different aspects of being an engineer that they will not typically get from their classes,” said Fried. “This is also seen by employers and when the members are going for an internship or a full time job after college.”
Baja Racing started in 1962 when Honda asked American stuntman Bud Ekins to test their new two-wheeled motorcycle. Ekins’ idea to test the new vehicle was to drive it from Tijuana to La Paz in Mexico to test the durability. This journey ended up being a logistical nightmare as the availability of fuel quickly became a problem, especially with a route through the desert where there are not many gas stations to refuel. This sparked intense collaboration and testing to make the vehicle more efficient while using less fuel. From there, the sport of Baja Racing began.
“The hardest part when building the car is staying on track with the manufacturing schedule,” said Hannon. “We do not have a lot of time to waste when we are going from designs to reality in one school year.”
Hannon said this club is a lot to balance with school, with all of its members being full-time students in addition to working on the construction of these vehicles.
“Each car is hundreds of hours of manufacturing which is very difficult for a group of college students who are trying to balance building the car, getting a degree, and managing anything else in their lives,” said Fried.
The group’s major setbacks come from unexpected mistakes when making parts or losing access to their shop, which can happen from time to time.
“Our biggest threat to completing the car is time,” Hannon said.
One factor that the Baja team has to be conscious of is cost. Having the software to not only design the buggy but also having the materials to construct it is expensive and can cost thousands of dollars. The MSU Baja team has solved this issue by bringing sponsors on board that help fund its research and construction, as well as being able to use the software and machinery its sponsors create.
“Baja is funded by our sponsors, and we spend approximately 20K each year between materials and the cost of attending competitions,” said Hannon.
Baja competitions are also expensive to attend - there is a registration cost, costs of travel and lodging costs which the team has to account for. However, individual members do not have to pay to be a part of the team. The Baja team also does not have liability insurance, but since the group is a registered organization in Michigan State’s Mechanical Engineering Department, it falls under the school’s umbrella of insurance.
The Michigan State Baja Team has already constructed its 2023 build, and are in the testing stages of the vehicle. The group has a bright future ahead, as its competitions are arriving soon this summer and can be all over the country. Last year, the team competed in competitions in Tennessee and New York, and this year are planning to attend competitions in Wisconsin and Oregon.
“My favorite part of being on Baja, and I think I speak for most of the team, is going to competitions.” Hannon said. “After a year of hard work, it is rewarding to see your car compete against other schools.”