ME DEPARTMENT NEWS

Mini-Baja '04 Team Finishes in 7th Place

Mini-Baja '03 Team Finishes in 28th Place

Aero Design '01 Team Finishes in 9th Place

Mini-Baja '99 Team Finishes in 1st Place
Results
Stories in Kansas State University Newspaper: April 16, April 19

Mini-Baja '98 Team Finishes in 1st Place
Results

Aero Design '98 Team Finishes in 10th Place

Solar Eagle III Wins Sunrayce 97

Mini-Baja '97 Team Finishes in 30th Place

Mini-Baja '96 Team Finishes in 1st Place

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Results for

NOTE: In the table below, time is in hours:minutes:seconds, and speed is in miles per hour.

Position	Car #	Team	Total Elapsed Time	Average Speed	Time From Nearest Competitor
1	8	California State University - Los Angeles	28:41:34	43.29
2	1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	29:00:20	42.83	0:18:46
3	16	Stanford University/UC - Berkeley	29:33:15	42.03	0:32:55
4	12	Texas A&M University	29:47:21	41.70	0:14:06
5	74	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	31:37:54	39.27	1:50:33
6	111	University of Michigan	32:14:01	38.54	0:36:07
7	24	University of Waterloo	32:22:04	38.38	0:08:03
8	43	University of Missouri - Columbia	32:25:38	38.31	0:03:34
9	480	Yale University	35:09:59	35.32	2:44:21
10	100	Queen's University	35:11:14	35.30	0:01:15
11	35	University of Minnesota	36:37:55	33.91	1:26:41
12	77	Messiah College	37:26:59	33.17	0:49:04
13	96	The University of Western Ontario	38:14:32	32.48	0:47:33
14	22	University of Illinois	38:39:59	32.13	0:25:27
15	17	University of Pennsylvania	39:08:21	31.74	0:28:22
16	97	Western Michigan University	42:10:56	29.45	3:02:35
17	42	University of Missouri - Rolla	43:26:56	28.59	1:16:00
18	33	Ohio State University	43:42:59	28.41	0:16:03
19	00	University of North Dakota	47:44:40	26.02	4:01:41
20	3	Mankato & Winona State Universities	49:05:03	25.31	1:20:23
21	21	New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology	50:46:46	24.46	1:41:43
22	27	United States Military Academy	51:29:25	24.12	0:42:39
23	66	McGill University	51:44:43	24.01	0:15:18
24	28	Kansas State University	53:43:00	23.12	1:58:17
25	29	Columbus State Community College	55:20:31	22.45	1:37:31
26	9	Iowa State University	65:32:29	18.95	10:11:58
27	2	California State University - Long Beach	67:31:32	18.40	1:59:03
28	76	Drexel University	69:47:09	17.80	2:15:37
29	101	Ecole de Technologie Superieure	71:03:34	17.48	1:16:25
30	6	Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University	75:29:19	16.46	4:25:45
31	32	Principia College	77:32:33	16.02	2:03:14
32	777	South Dakota School of Mines and Technology	79:43:46	15.58	2:11:13
33	11	Auburn University	90:24:06	13.74	10:40:20
34	741	Purdue University	91:09:45	13.63	0:45:39
35	504	University of New Orleans	93:10:10	13.33	2:00:25
36	7	George Washington University	19:06:17	0.00

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Team from CSULA School of Engineering and Technology
Captures First Place in Mini-Baja West 1996 Competition

(Story below adapted by S.F.F. from University Times article by Dru Farnham published April 22, 1996.)



CSULA's Winning Entry in Mini-Baja West Competition

In a grueling three-day meet held in April near Tempe, Arizona, a CSULA team participating in the Mini-Baja West car competition captured first place overall in a field that included more than 70 entries from the U.S. and Mexico. The meet was sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

The highlight, and most heavily weighted event of this multi-event competition, was the four-hour endurance race in which the CSULA team took first place. See picture of track below.

Beating such schools as Cal Poly Pomona, USC, U.C. Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, required excellence in aesthetics as well as in specific car performance tests such as hill climbing, acceleration, and maneuverability. All competing teams used identical engines donated by Briggs and Stratton.

At the end of the first day (April 18) of the meet, CSULA was in sixth place, as calculated from a third place finish in mechanical design, a fourth place finish in aesthetics, and other scored events. At the end of the second day, two performance events gave the team a third place finish in the hill climb, and a second place in acceleration.

CSULA came in first in the four-hour endurance race on the third day. This gave the team first place overall. The prize was a large trophy with the name of the university engraved on it. U.C. Irvine placed second. Last year, first place went to a team from Mexico, and the year before that, first place went to a team from CSU Sacramento.

"The Mini-Baja Project is a great opportunity to apply what we learn in the classroom to a real, 'hands-on,' comprehensive project. It is a great way to complete your engineering study because you draw from many different classes," said team member John Chang.

The win capped a team effort that began in July 1995. The team was captained by Mark van Dalm and included John Chang, Stan Palmer, Mark Fisher, Hironao Hashimoto, Miguel Osorio, Jose Taxcla, Jose Lopez, Patrick Alvarado, and Everardo Hernandez. Except for Stan Palmer, who is a Dept. of Technology student, all the team members are students in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

General Motors is making arrangements to exhibit the CSULA car at a truck and bus convention in Detroit in October 1996.

Faculty advisor, and Prof. of ME, Lih-Min Hsia said that "every time we enter, we do well. Sometimes we do exceptionally well. There is a tremendous educational benefit. I always encourage students to participate in nation-wide competitions."

CSULA earned a reputation for excellence when it participated in several Mini-Baja competitions held in the 1980's. In 1983, CSULA placed first overall. For three consecutive years before that CSULA placed second overall. CSULA did not participate in the Mini-Baja competition for the next ten years until the car-building project was revived in 1994 by members of the CSULA Student Chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). In April 1995, in El Paso, Texas, a CSULA team placed sixth overall at the Mini-Baja classic.


"Turkey Track"

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