Recently, on the outskirts of Indore, an Automotive Testing facility was converted into a war front for engineering students. It seemed like each and every engineering college of India had sent their own army to raid the region. For the occasion of Mahindra Baja SAEINDIA 2016, students from all over the country had brought their indigenously built BAJA buggies to the NATRiP facility at Pithampur near Indore. As the name suggests, National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP), is a facility that is built to strengthen India’s mark in the automotive world globally. It was the venue for the 3-day Baja event.
The Mahindra BAJASAEINDIA 2016 in its 9th edition took place at the said facility on 20th of February. A total of 129 teams competed in the endurance round comprising both mBaja and eBaja. Only 179 teams out of the 395 teams that registered qualified for the finale. Further 50 teams teams couldn’t make it through to the endurance test. The final Endurance round witnessed 129 buggies race through tough terrains to win the ultimate crown.
This particular racing event is not just about putting the best drivers on the wheel, it is also about creating the machine from scratch.
The action packed event was attended by Pawan Goenka, Executive Director & President, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and Chairman BAJA SAEINDIA Steering Committee, Aravind Bharadwaj, President, SAEINDIA, Sanjay Bandopadhyaya (IAS) CEO NATRiP, Mr. Rajeev Chalana- Senior Manger HR LEAR Corporation, Murli Iyer- Advisor SAE International.
The students have to design and fabricate a single seater four – wheeled off road vehicle (also called as buggy) to take part in series of events spread over a course of 3 days. Prior to the actual race, the created vehicles are tested and validated for the the agility of the vehicle in terms of gradability, speed, acceleration and manoeuvrability characteristics and finally its ability to endure the hard-hitting durability test. For the 2016 edition, Students also created electric Baja buggies for the eBaja event. This was the second edition of eBAJA which aims to provide a platform to leverage the onset of Electric Mobility in India. The conventional BAJA is all about petrol driven ATVs, eBAJA vehicles will run on electric power using electric motor powered by rechargeable Lithium Ion battery packs. The event saw participation from 11 colleges. However, only 9 colleges competed in the endurance round.
Further, the event commences with a basic Static Evaluation round which comprises of Design Evaluation, Cost Evaluation and Marketing Presentation. The teams showcase their prototype of a rugged single seat, off-road recreational four-wheel vehicle and are evaluated on various parameters, including engineering design, cost and technology innovation. The objective of the competition is to simulate real world engineering design projects and their related challenges. Each team’s goal is to create a safe, easily transported, easily maintained and fun to drive prototype without any direct involvement from professional fabricators. However, the teams were free to design their own transmissions with the only restriction being the speed limit to 60kmph.
Moving on the Dynamic Evaluation Round, the vehicles are tested for acceleration, speed, hill climb and manoeuvrability. After racing through all these events the teams have to put their vehicle through the final – Endurance event. The strenuous event tests the vehicle’s ability to operate continuously and at a speed over rough terrain containing obstacles in any weather conditions. All of the aforementioned activities and events took place on the new track that was created for the Baja 2016 event. The track spread over 5 kms and comprises of natural hurdles and terrains designed in a manner to pose more challenges and test not only the success of vehicles but also of those driving it.
This year, College of Engineering, Pune were announced as winners and their Team Nemesis Racing lifted the winner’s trophy of the 9th edition of the BAJA series in India. They also bagged the Engineering Design award. Alard College of Engineering, Pune and SRM University, Chennai were declared as the first runners-up and second runners-up respectively. For the eBaja event, Smt. Kashibai Navale College of engineering, Pune was declared the winners of the ‘Best eBAJA Team’. Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering, Bengaluru won the Go Green- Emissions Award. Special awards like Dronacharya award was given to the faculty advisor of Amity School of Engineering and Technology, New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Executive Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said, “I look forward to personally attending BAJA every year. Witnessing thousands of students coming together to celebrate not just the spirit of BAJA but also the philosophy of Rise has given me immense pleasure. Year on year there has been an increase in participation from colleges and this is testimony to BAJA SAEINDIA’s growing popularity and its national significance. We at Mahindra have always believed in thinking beyond the conventional and this forum gives young engineering talent that opportunity to showcase their skills. Mahindra is delighted to be associated with BAJA SAEINDIA 2016 as the title sponsor and with BAJA we are taking forward the philosophy of Mahindra Rise to the next level”.
On the occasion Aravind Bharadwaj, President, SAEINDIA said that in the endeavor to foster the ‘Make in India’ initiative and achieve the global aspiration of the Indian automotive industry, it is imperative that there is a steady flow of qualified and passionate engineers from the various universities. BAJA is one such initiative from SAEINDIA that provides an opportunity for students to get hands on learning experience in vehicle design. The rapid increase in the number of teams from SAEINDIA clubs in colleges across the country and the unparalleled enthusiasm of everyone involved with this event is clear evidence that BAJA SAEINDIA is making progress in the right direction.
Also commenting on the occasion the Convener, BAJA SAEINDIA 2016, Sudhir Gupte said, “BAJA SAEINDIA is a platform that offers an out-of-classroom learning opportunities for the engineering students and to showcase their talent and skills in presence of auto experts. In addition to that, they learn to plan and execute their ideas by complete coordination and team work. The experience of preparing optimum design by carrying out CAD modelling and analysis by using Altair, Ansys software and development of vehicle as their design fabrication to finally testing and validating the prototype built on their own self, makes them ready for the industry. Significant inputs are provided by industry experts through several multi-locational training programs and webinars conducted throughout the year. The experience gained helps the students to understand the environment which is similar to the industry they aspire to be part of. Amongst the thrill and adventure, we assess the abilities of participants by testing them on parameters such as leadership skills and theoretic and practical knowledge.”
