CAPSTONE PROJECT: MINI BAJA FOR THE SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS

For our senior capstone project, my team was tasked with redesigning the Mini Baja vehicle for the Society of Automotive Engineers competition.  The project was broken into four parts: Frame, Suspension, Steering, and Drive train.  I was the Suspension team lead and responsible for all sub team communications and designing the front suspension.  I entered this project with no automotive engineering experience; the first few weeks of the design phase were dedicated to research.  Using textbooks, my advisor and online forums, I chose a double wishbone design for the front suspension of the vehicle.  The geometry and tube thickness was chosen to satisfy the project requirement, such as vehicle width, ride height, maximum suspension travel, and collisions at top speed.

​

The fabrication phase of the process presented new challenges.  I was part of the group that would fabricate the frame, yet I had never used a welder.  During winter break, the team trained in the lab and earned shop welding certificates for mig and tig techniques.  Fabrication and integration was a success thanks to the hard work we put in during preparation.  This project resulted in a functional vehicle and instilled a sense of confidence that anything can be accomplished with hard work.