{"id":1692,"date":"2008-01-16T17:29:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-16T22:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?p=1692"},"modified":"2014-12-16T17:29:49","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T22:29:49","slug":"theyre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2008\/01\/theyre\/","title":{"rendered":"And They\u2019re Off!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Baja-SAE\"<\/a>
Members of the 2007\u20132008 Baja-SAE team and their faculty advisor, Lester Su (right), gather around last year\u2019s vehicle in Latrobe Hall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adam Baumgartner, a sophomore mechanical engineer, is talking in a corner of Latrobe Hall\u2019s basement. He\u2019s describing his involvement on the Hopkins Baja-SAE team and is so excited that he\u2019s actually jumping up and down in place. Standing 6 feet 8 inches (he\u2019s also a forward on Hopkins\u2019 men\u2019s basketball team), he has enthusiasm that is both contagious and, in this cramped setting, slightly overwhelming.<\/p>\n

The object of his excitement? A 10-horsepower, dune buggy\u2013type vehicle that he and his Hopkins classmates are crafting to compete in an intercollegiate design competition run by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The single- seater must be equipped to race across rough terrain, catch air, and chug through deep water. The team\u2019s goal: to create the most efficient machine that can take part in speed, distance, and durability competitions in a wide variety of settings.<\/p>\n

Baumgartner\u2019s co-captain for the 2007\u20132008 season is Avik De, also a sophomore mechanical engineer. Together the two are leading a group of 14 undergraduates (many from Mechanical Engineering, but others from Physics, Biomedical Engineering, and even International Relations) in the design and construction of the vehicle.<\/p>\n

After planning, refining, and strategizing their design within the constraints defined by the SAE, the students will build and test the car. Later this spring, the team will compete in a series of international competitions against schools from across the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Korea. They will be judged on their design, cost, speed, traction, land maneuverability, water maneuverability, and endurance.<\/p>\n

This marks the fourth year that a Whiting School team will compete in the contest. \u201cTwo super-motivated students started it here in 2004 and it is students that have made it a success,\u201d says Lester Su, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and the team\u2019s faculty advisor.<\/p>\n

Each team starts with the same 10-horsepower Briggs & Stratton engine and is allowed to cannibalize a percentage of parts from its previous year\u2019s entry. \u201cWe\u2019re making it substantially lighter than last year\u2019s by taking out unnecessary tubes, completely redesigning the drive train, and making our own two-stage chain reduction box,\u201d De says. \u201cIt\u2019s a completely redesigned chassis,\u201d adds Baumgartner.<\/p>\n

When De explains that the car is designed entirely on the computer, Eric Harden, the department\u2019s senior machine shop coordinator, chimes in, \u201cBut just because the computer says it works, that doesn\u2019t mean it works.\u201d While competing is clearly a thrill, the team obviously enjoys putting classroom learning to hands-on use. \u201cThere are trade-offs we have to make at every stage. But we\u2019ve had the chance to learn how to use all these tools,\u201d Baumgartner says, walking through the machine shop. \u201cWe learned to weld, which is cool. This is a dream come true for me. Definitely something to check off on my life \u2018to-do\u2019 list.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out how the 2007\u20132008 team fares, check its website, http:\/\/www.jhu.edu\/asme\/baja .html, later this spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adam Baumgartner, a sophomore mechanical engineer, is talking in a corner of Latrobe Hall\u2019s basement. He\u2019s describing his involvement on the Hopkins Baja-SAE team and is so excited that he\u2019s actually jumping up and down in place. Standing 6 feet 8 inches (he\u2019s also a forward on Hopkins\u2019 men\u2019s basketball team), he has enthusiasm that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-development","issue-winter-2008"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnd They\u2019re Off! - JHU Engineering Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2008\/01\/theyre\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"And They\u2019re Off! - JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Adam Baumgartner, a sophomore mechanical engineer, is talking in a corner of Latrobe Hall\u2019s basement. 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