Mini Baja (Baja SAE) Anahuac, six years and counting

I cannot believe it. It was six years ago on a Thursday September 27th that we held the first ever meeting of the Mini Baja Anahuac Team.

It seems like a far memory when we first gathered around in a classroom and start discussing the idea of having a team dedicated to building a car to compete in the USA. It was un-thought at that time to have that kind of project in our University, some have tried to but never succeeded.

After that meeting, we began our attempts to design a car and enroll more team members. It wasn't until a couple of months later when we got funding from the University and the Ford Company that things started to look clearer.

In February 2002 we took some persons that were interested in participating in Mini Baja to a competition in the city of Queretaro. That was all we needed to convince them. They got hooked up and the rest is history.

Along these years I have been the Captain and now Faculty Advisor of the Team. Lot of people have gone through the team and I hope that it has changed them. We have built some cars, participated in a few competitions, and have lots of fun.

Right now the team is struggling to survive (yea I know, again!), let's hope that it succeeds and keep alive what has come a tradition in the Engineering Faculty of the Universidad Anahuac Mexico Norte.

I leave you with some numbers that reflect what has happened in these 6 years of Baja:

• 6 years;
• 3 cars built (and one more in construction);
• 10 competitions (2 in USA, 8 in Mexico);
• 12 competition entries;
• 1 test first place;
• 1 disqualification;
• 4.83 average grade of all entries;
• 6 Captains;
• 2 Faculty Advisors;
• 2 broken transmissions;
• 1 guy with blue face ("the smurf");
• 1 guy temporarily blind (less than a day);
• An unknown amount of lost tools;
• About 5 rollovers; and
• ONE TEAM

That was a long post and it could be longer. Remembering the Tlacaelel, Homer, and Coyote.

Baja SAE 2008, tentative schedule

A few weeks ago I posted some info on the possible places for the 2008 Baja SAE competitions (link). The latest Collegiate Design Series Newsletter includes the tentative schedules for the 2008 competitions:

• Baja SAE - Tennessee Tech University May 1-4, 2008. Cookeville, Tennessee. (This is the water event)
• Baja SAE - Central Illinois May 29 - June 1, 2008-. Caterpillar Facility - Peoria, Illinois.
• Baja SAE - Ecole De Technologie Superieure June 12-15, 2008. Montreal, Canada.

The newsletter also details that the Baja SAE rules should be out in early August. It also states an 100 USD increment on the inscription fees. The registration opens on Monday, October 1, 2007 at 10.00 am EST.

From the proposed schedule it seems that our team will be intending to attend to either the Illinois or the Montreal competition, we'll see if it happens.

Probable 2008 Baja SAE locations

Now that another season of Baja SAE is over is time to start thinking on the new season. Certainly my mind is already set on the 2008 US competitions  and which one our Team will try to attend to.

I just found a list of the sites currently considered to the 2008 events:

1. Cookeville, Tennessee (TTU);
2. Peoria, Illinois (Caterpillar, I think); and
3. Montreal, Canada (ETS, or just Montreal Section).

The information does not specifies neither date or event types (West, Midwest, or East). Let's hope that they organize good, quality events characteristics of the Baja SAE series.

It is my wish that the Baja Anahuac Baja SAE Team compete in one of there events, hope that the Team is up to the challenge.

Quote of the Day:
Justice consists in doing no injury to men; decency in giving them no offense.
--Marcus Tullius Cicero

Baja SAE Rochester 2007, a story from an unattending team

Maybe you can remember some of my past posts regarding the "intention" of the Baja SAE Anahuac Team of participating in the Baja SAE Rochester 2007 competition.

First, let me talk about why it turned from a goal, to an intention, to a deception. Some of you may know about it, some of you don't. The team was on time (not on schedule) to finish the vehicle and compete in Rochester. So, why did the team didn't go to the competition? We had a setback. The captain of the team couldn't keep up with the needs of the team and his school needs. So the captain decided to pull back his efforts on the team and the car in order to focus on his academic activities and to maintain his scholarship. You see, in our current team structure and status the captain is the person within the school team (that means to leave the advisors behind) more knowledgeable about the project and, therefore, the responsible of getting the things done. So when you have a captain that can't maintain the effort and momentum of the team, things start falling appart.

It is a pity that we didn't assist to the competition. It is a pity because we were capable of doing so, capable of returning to an international event and getting a good result. It is another story and another deception in the book for our team, we have had a few along our history (see MBQ2003, MBQ2004, MB100, and MBQ2006).

So, what's in store for the team? you ask. First is a s-l-o-w summer period with little to none work done. Then we have the responsibility of finishing the car for the Baja SAE Mexico 2007 competition, 148 days away from today (17-19 November, 2007). And hopefully have a car for the 2008 US competition.

Expect few posts about Baja in the summer and more frequently as BSM2007 comes near.

Oh, yes about the competition in Rochester... It seems that it was a lot of fun, lot of teams, with a Brazilian team taking the first place, Sherbrooke in second, and Tennessee in third (BSRIT 2007 results).

Finally after a very long post (maybe the largest ever in my blog so far!) I leave you with two videos from Baja SAE Rochester 2007. The first one is the start of the endurance race (see the amount of teams competing), and the second is the offical video from SAE, hope you enjoy them....

YouTube - 2007 Baja SAE Rochester World Challenge

 

YouTube - SAE Extreme BAJA RIT 2007

Baja SAE new car update (Apr 20)

BSA007 Car 02
Originally uploaded by velascomike.

We are working very hard on the construction of the new Baja SAE car. As promissed, here is a photo of the progress so far.

The front structure is almost done, hope this weekend we can complete the whole structure and move on into the suspension.

Rochester... We have tubes!!

uh????

What the h* do I mean with that?

Saturday morning the "physical" work for the the new Baja SAE Anahuac vehicle started. Just a few details are missing from the structural design and in the meantime the work has begun.

We have an awful amount of things to do between now and June 7th (only 74 days) but I am confident that the team can work it out :-).

SAE Extreme!

SAE is the one behind great competition such as Formula SAE and Baja SAE. These competitions are becoming more and more famous and recognized. One sign of this is that the registration to almost all the events of these competitions are filling up rather quickly.

SAE also organizes other events such as: Clean Snowmobile Challenge, Formula Student, Formula Hybrid, Aero design, and Supermileage.

The folks on SAE are working on improving the presence of these competitions by launching a video on YouTube! It is a good video that gives you sneak peaks to what these competitions are all about.

Up next on YouTube! "SAE Extreme"...

YouTube - SAE Extreme

100 days to Baja SAE RIT 2007

100. 100 days to Baja SAE Rochester Institute of Technology 2007. This could be the next competition for the Baja SAE Anahuac Team. Currently we are struggling with some issues, among them the time constrain, to get the new car on wheels on time for the competition, hopefully we do :-). One thing that I can assure you, we don't give up easily.

As the time draws nearer I will keep you informed of major breakthroughs and updates of the Team.

1st place in maneuverability in MBM 2006 and other results

It is about time that I inform you of our results of Mini Baja Mexico 2006.

As you can see from the title we are very happy for achieving our first ever podium in any test. It is a very nice podium, first place of maneuverability, because we have always had problems with this test. And let me congratulate the team on this achievement and also congratulate the driver that did this feat, Primo (a.k.a. Juan Carlos, Nauj).

Now the next part of the results. We did "relatively well" on the first day of dynamic tests. We got 7th place on the hill climb and pull tests, we got 8th place on acceleration (determines the endurance starting grid). On the Endurance test we finished 10th.

Overall we managed to get ourselves on the top 10 teams, getting to the 9th place. This place is "good", but not near what we were expecting. Got to work harder for the next Baja SAE event.

MBM 2006 is Live!!!

The date has finally arrived and the Anahuac Baja SAE Team is already on site for the first event of the season, Mini Baja Mexico 2006. Today will be security check (our team has already passed it) and braking; tomorrow acceleration, hill climb, maneuverability, and pull; and on Sunday the endurance test. It would be nice seeing some of you at the event.

And root for Universidad Anahuac!! Go Coyote, Go!!!

09 days for MBM 2006

It is just 9 days for Mini Baja Mexico 2006. Like I promised a couple of weeks ago I post here some more  information on the event.

MBM 2006 will take place from Friday November 17 to Sunday November 19. There are two venues for the event, Friday events (static events) will be held on the ITESM Campus Toluca. Saturday and Sunday events (dynamic events) will take place on the skirts of the Nevado de Toluca, specifically on the 18th km of the Toluca-Valle de Bravo Highway. You can find the map to the Saturday and Sunday venue @ http://www.saemex.org/minibaja/mapa/2006mb_map_large.jpg

 The best day for enjoying a Mini Baja event is on the day of the endurance test (Sunday November 18, 2006). Commonly referred to as "the race" it is a gruesome four hour ride along an off-road track. This event is the one that award the most points on the event. The day begins at 9.30 hrs with the formation of the starting grid, the endurance test begins at 10.30 hrs and finishes at 14.30 hrs, the end of the day is marked by the awards ceremony held at 15.15 hrs.

You can also enjoy the events on the Saturday, this events include the acceleration, hill climb, pull, and maneuverability events. They are good events, but as the cars have two opportunities to each event it can be a long day and a little tiring for the spectators. These events are held throughout the day from 8.30 to 17.00 hrs.

You can find the whole program and more information on the event website @ Mini Baja Mexico 2006.

Well that's all for this post, hope to see you around MBM 2006 rooting for car No. 100, the Coyote from the Universidad Anahuac (tip, it is a red car).

Bound for Rochester...

This past weekend the Baja SAE Anahuac Team officially became the car number 135 for Baja SAE RIT 2007. RIT stands for Rochester Institute of Technology and it is located @ Rochester, New York.

This could be the 13th or 14th competition of the Baja SAE Anahuac Team. I could also become the 3rd international competition we participate in. We are currently working very hard on the design of the new vehicle and hope to start the manufacture on January 2007.

We are very excited for this, although we know it will mean an awful amount of work to do, we know that this events are a great experience!

Less than a month for MBM 2006

Is less than a month (24 days exactly) for Mini Baja Mexico 2006. This will be the 12th competition of the Baja SAE Anahuac Team, it is also the first one of this season.

MBM 2006 will take place near the base of the "Nevado de Toluca" just outside of Toluca (well, about 20 minutes from it). The official website of the Mexico event is located @ Mini Baja Mexico 2006, there you can find information on the event.

We will be competing with one car, the 2005 model Coyote.The team is currently working on some improvements and repairs on the car, and we are hoping for a good performance on the event.

I'll publish a map later so you can go and see this cars in real life.