May 6, 2009

UAB Baja Car. Download image.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Blazer Motorsports, a team of University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, earned two highest-ever category rankings in the 2009 Baja SAE real-world engineering challenge, which was held April 16-19 in Auburn.

Competing with 100 university teams from throughout the world, Blazer Motorsports finished the contest in 52nd place overall.

The team was judged on the design, acceleration, suspension and traction, land maneuverability, pulling capacity, endurance and cost of its Baja race car, which was planned and then built from scratch by the 12 team members over more than six months inside their machine shop at the UAB School of Engineering.

In its sixth year in the competition, Blazer Motorsports achieved its highest-ever marks in two categories. The team was given a 27th place ranking for its race car design, 26 spots higher than its previous best finish in the category in 2008. The team also finished 45th in the pull capacity category, which was an improvement of three spots from its previous best category finish in 2007.

The Blazer Motorsports Team members are juniors Billy "Alex" McConathy of Oak Grove, Haley Rilling of Brewton, Aaron Knepper of Pell City, David Saunders of Montgomery, David Sexton of Dothan and Thomas Moland of Hokes Bluff, along with seniors Ronald "Scott" Mayfield of Morris, Lawrence Korneghy of Lakeview and Michael "Eric" Burns of Mobile.

About UAB

The UAB School of Engineering offers students real-world experience while they train in one of its half-dozen degree programs, which include the only undergraduate biomedical engineering program in Alabama. Students experience cutting-edge research opportunities, industry co-ops and unique internships generated by the school's commitment to interdisciplinary learning.