May 20, 2008

UAB's Baja Car team, Blazer Motorsports, will practice for next week's regional Baja SAE competition in Peoria, Ill. Baja SAE consists of three regional competitions that simulate real-world engineering design projects and their related challenges. Engineering students design and build an off-road vehicle that will survive the severe punishment of rough terrain. SAE International has more than 90,000 members - engineers, business executives, educators, and students from more than 97 countries - who share information and exchange ideas for advancing the engineering of mobility systems.

The students will be at Warrior MX Park at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 21. From Birmingham, take I-65 N to exit 282. Turn right on Warrior-Jasper Road. Go to T in road and turn left on Hwy 31. Go about 1.5 miles and turn right on Old Hayden road. Go 1 mile turn left uphill at MX sign and track driveway is at top of hill on left. Watch for signs.

UAB engineering students have worked on this project for several months for course credit or extracurricular activity. The object of the competition is to provide SAE student members with a challenging project that involves the planning and manufacturing tasks found when introducing a new product to the consumer industrial market. Teams compete against one another to have their design accepted for manufacture by a fictitious firm.

Students must function as a team to not only design, build, test, promote and race a vehicle within the limits of the rules, but also to generate financial support for their project and manage their educational priorities.

All vehicles are powered by a 10-horsepower Intek Model 20 engine donated by Briggs & Stratton Corporation.

Team members are: Alex McConathy (team captain), a sophomore in mechanical engineering  from Oak Grove; Aaron Knepper, a sophomore in mechanical engineering from Pell City; Haley Rilling, a sophomore in mechanical engineering from Brewton; Hilary Gilbert, a senior in civil engineering from West Jefferson;  John-Michael Walker, a senior in civil engineering and mechanical engineering graduate student from Atmore; Joel Gaddis, a senior in mechanical engineering from Fayetteville; Scott Mayfield, a senior in mechanical engineering from Morris; Aaron Short, a Spring 2008 graduate in mechanical engineering from Alabaster; Andrew Short, a senior in materials science and engineering from Alabaster; Stephen Williams, a junior in materials science and engineering from Chelsea; and David Sexton, a sophomore in materials science and engineering from Dothan.