Mini Baja project takes engineering program to ""The Show""
Janel Shoun |
That’s what nine of Lipscomb’s engineering students have been up to this spring as they prepare to compete in the national Mini Baja Race in Ocala, Fla., April 12-15.
The competition challenges engineering students to design and build an off-road vehicle that will survive 100 miles of severe punishment on a rough terrain and water track. Students in the Raymond B. Jones School of Engineering are registered for the Mini Baja East, one of three American competitions in the spring. The students, who have done everything from fund-raising to welding to get the dune buggy rolling, are hoping to place high in the race… or at least win the Best New Team Award, says project manager Matt Lucas.
They certainly deserve it after all the work the students have gone through, said Fort Gwinn, chair of the department of engineering mechanics at Lipscomb. While most teams at the Mini-Baja have years of racing experience to draw from – including past design records, familiarity with what other teams are doing and loyal sponsors who help every year, Lipscomb’s team had to start completely from scratch.
“We had to find a garage; we had to outfit the entire place. In fact, just to start building the car, we had to build the table to build the car on,” said Lucas, a senior from Chandler, Okla., who along with Daniel McCullough, senior from Suffolk, Va., were the first to hear about the competition and brought their classmates together to propose participation to the faculty.
“We’ve had design projects before, but this year we wanted to do something a little different,” said Lucas, speaking as his classmates were busily cutting, welding and pondering over the metal frame of their dune buggy in the new “engineering garage” in the student center.
The nine students on the lead design team are Matt Lucas, Daniel McCullough, Jon Hester of Garden City, NY, David Beaman of Knoxville; Amy Gilfilen of Marietta, Ga.; Nathan Harless of Clemmons, N.C.; Kirk Pippin of Nashville; Robert Smithson of Franklin; and Paul Stevens of Columbus, Ohio. They are assisted by the underclassman engineering students and faculty.
Coming just five years after graduating Lipscomb’s first class of engineering students, the Mini Baja dune buggy is a project that shows Lipscomb’s small engineering program has come into its own, said Gwinn.
“A lot of people consider participation in the Mini Baja to be the mark of a quality mechanical engineering program,” he said. “The fact that we now have enough resources and students to compete against 75 other teams from around the globe, shows that Lipscomb is ready to go to The Show.” This May will bring the graduation of 17 new engineers, including all of the Mini Baja team leaders.
But it hasn’t been easy. Before plugging in the first tool, the engineering seniors had to become businesspeople and raise $20,000. They began by passing out fund-raising brochures door-to-door at businesses close to campus. All it took was the name “Baja” to get Dave Osborn, owner of Baja Burrito on Thompson Lane and Blue Coast Burrito of Cool Springs, interested.
“It sounded like a neat opportunity to support a group of students going out to try something for the first time,” said Osborn, whose company provided enough burritos for several thousand at a November 2006 “tailgate party” to raise money for the project. “I thought it was great that they are willing to take on something that has never been done before and to take on all those much bigger schools who have been doing this a long time.”
Over this past summer, while the lead designers were all at internships across the country, e-mails went flying across the country and conference calls were arranged for everything from vehicle design details to the design of a logo, Lucas said.
As the money was being raised, the students also had to obtain tools and machinery from various local sponsors, such as Bridgestone Firestone, Loftis Steel and Aluminum and Square D. More than 20 sponsors have provided equipment, money or advice, from welding supplies from Volunteer Welding to thank you cards from Katy’s Hallmark. And more sponsors are coming on board as the project progresses.
“We had to sit down and think about not just how we were going to build it, but all the tools we would need to do it,” said Jonathan Hester, an engineering senior from Garden City, NY. “We had to generate a list that included everything, from the structural materials down to what wrenches we would need.”
He described one day when the team was trying to figure out how they were going to notch the steel frame pieces so they would fit together properly; “We came up with a tricky way to do it involving an air drill attached to a vice, but drilling was slow and inaccurate. Hayden Morin from Lipscomb’s facilities department suggested we get an inexpensive tool called a pipe notcher from Harbor Freight. This greatly reduced error as well as the fabrication time of the car’s frame.
“You can plan all day, but you can still miss something,” laments Hester. “So you have to be open to suggestions from others.”That’s where Norris “TJ” Tennent, engineering product manager at Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC, comes in. Not only did the company donate Mud Hooks Extreme tires for the vehicle, but TJ has spent countlesshours with the students in person, by phone and e-mail guiding them through the construction process.
“From a corporate standpoint, this project is as real as you can get,” said Tennent, during his weekly visit with the students. “Not only are they designing the vehicle and building it themselves, but they are learning how that process works in the business world. You often have to wait for parts on back-order or find a technical expert to help you get past a certain problem. It’s certainly a real-world experience.”
The lead team is also assisted by Lipscomb engineering underclassmen and faculty. They are divided up into eight teams focusing on the frame, front suspension, rear suspension, drive train, brakes, flotation, steering and cockpit.
The team still has plenty of challenges ahead. The off-road race is tough. “A lot of teams are happy if they just complete it,” said Gwinn.
Baja racing teams will be judged on the quality of their car's design as well as their car's performance in several categories including a sled pull, suspension traction and land maneuverability, mud bogs, acceleration /top speed, deep water maneuverability and an endurance race.
Lipscomb’s racing team believes their buggy will be up to the challenge, and they hope its success will bring more attention to the engineering program that has served them well.
“It’s good for you as a student to get out of the classroom and into the lab and get your hands dirty,” Hester said. “Being stuck in McFarland all day, we don’t get much exposure to the student body. Our car will be seen by everyone on campus as well as all the big name schools we’re taking on who’ve never even heard of us. I’m confident that they’ll know the name Lipscomb when its time to go home.”