News Release Contact: Margaret Boyes, APR (540) 857-6532; mboyes@vw.vccs.edu FAX (540) 857-6370 Written by: Danny Shepelwich
For immediate release Thursday, June 21, 2007
VIRGINIA WESTERN STUDENTS FAIRED WELL IN OFF-ROAD VEHICLE COMPETITION Students built the Baja from scratch ROANOKE, VA –Ten Engineering and Technology students from Virginia Western Community College, under the supervision of Associate Professor Richard Clark, went to Rochester, NY the first weekend of June to drive and showcase a vehicle they had built from scratch. They competed against 141 other colleges in a nation-wide competition to build an off-road vehicle, called a Baja. “We wanted to allow our students the opportunity to take a real life situation and starting from scratch get to plan, build and essentially create a vehicle that is fully operational. This is a great learning experience not many community colleges get a chance to undertake,” says Clark, “and we are proud that Virginia Western had the opportunity to compete.” Clark and his team made the most of this opportunity. Virginia Western’s team was ranked first among community colleges, 2nd among new teams entered into the competition, 3rd from the state of Virginia, and finished 70th overall. “For our first year in the Baja competition, I think we did much better than people were expecting from us,” says team member Everett Braden. The design of each Baja vehicle needed to include a 10 HP Briggs and Stratton engine that averages 30-40 miles per hour. Other than that, each design was completely unique to each team. Virginia Western opted to develop a transmission system that provided for smoother maneuverability and quicker acceleration. --more--
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The judging of the vehicles was two-fold; static and dynamic. The static competition was based on a portfolio of work the teams had put together including a detailed design report outlining the internal and external structure of the vehicle. This involved any pictures, graphs, graphics, and other data the teams wished to present. The static competition also included a cost report of designing and making the vehicle. Finally, vehicles were judged on presentations given by team members to mock corporate executives. The dynamic events tested the Baja’s on and off the road in five events. Acceleration was judged by how long the vehicles take to accelerate 100 feet. Traction was tested by the Baja’s ability to climb an incline from a standing position. Maneuverability tested the vehicles suspension, handling and steering by driving it on a course that includes tight turns, pylon maneuvers, ruts and bumps, drop offs, sand, rocks, gullies, logs, and inclines. Finally, an endurance race, which was worth 400 out of the possible 1,000 points, tested the vehicles ability to operate continuously and at speed over rough terrain containing obstacles in any weather condition. “This is a project we are planning on continuing in years to come,” says Clark. “We hope to branch out and make this an interdisciplinary event in the future, adding students from Marketing and Business programs to assist in the cost planning and design aspects of the program.” The Baja competition is held by the Society of Automotive Engineers, whose objective is to provide students a challenging project that involves the planning and manufacturing tasks found when introducing a new product to the consumer industrial market. Teams competed against one another to have their design accepted for manufacture by a fictitious firm. The Virginia Western Educational Foundation has provided Clark and his team two grants that equal ten thousand dollars. Clark and his team were also able to obtain donations from outside sources including Central Boat and Trailer Sales and the Haddington Group. For more information on the Baja competition, visit www.sae.org. For more information on Virginia Western’s Baja vehicle or their College of Engineering, contact Associate Professor Richard Clark at 540.857.6262. ###