Purdue University Northwest’s (PNW) Baja Racing team excelled at the fall 2024 Midwest Baja SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) competition, including winning the top business presentation among over 200 colleges and universities.
Purdue Northwest Baja Racing student participants collaborate on the engineering, fabrication and assembly of an off-road vehicle. The students travel to Baja SAE competitions around the country to drive their vehicle in endurance events and present the vehicle’s design and efficiencies to professional judges. The Midwest Baja SAE competition was hosted in Holly, Michigan in mid-September.
PNW’s team earned first place in the Midwest Baja SAE business presentation, which requires student representatives to present their off-road vehicle’s design and hypothetical ability to be commercially reproduced. The business presentation competition began weeks earlier with virtual presentations by more than 200 teams, with only a select few making the cut to present in-person to the judges during the four-day event in Michigan. The first-place win was a significant achievement for PNW, competing against larger schools such as the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Oregon State University.
Purdue Northwest Baja Racing also placed 31st out of 85 teams in the competition’s endurance race, which challenges teams to race their vehicles on a rugged course for as long as possible over a period of up to four hours. The PNW team’s collective scores across the competition earned it 38th overall.
Team members noted that they devote countless hours throughout the academic year to perfecting the vehicle and business presentation. The team worked together to overcome challenges, and lessons learned through the strong performance at the Midwest competition provides the group a solid foundation for future competitions.
PNW Baja Racing designs and builds a new vehicle almost every academic year because each vehicle is permitted to run in at most three competitions. The student-led group is part of PNW’s College of Technology, with team members representing all parts of the university and a wide range of majors.
