Stony Brook Motorsports Team Ranks Highest in History of Competition

STONY BROOK, NY – The Stony Brook Motorsports team ranked the highest ever in its 8 years of participation in the Baja SAE International Engineering Competition. The team finished third overall in the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Competition and ranked in top 10 for several categories in the Baja SAE Rochester World Challenge.

The Baja SAE Challenge is the world’s most prestigious off-road collegiate auto racing competition. The challenge is comprised of three regional events that simulate real-world engineering projects and their related challenges. Engineering students are tasked to design and build an off-road vehicle that will survive the severe punishment of rough terrain. The Stony Brook team participated in two of these events.

The object of the first South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Competition is to provide SAE student members with a challenging project that involves the planning and manufacturing tasks found when introducing a new product to the consumer industrial market. Teams compete against one another to have their design accepted for manufacture by a fictitious firm. Students must function as a team to not only design, build, test, promote, and race a vehicle within the limits of the rules, but also to generate financial support for their project and manage their educational priorities.

The team ranked third overall behind only Auburn University and Oregon State. They also ranked first in static design and second in overall design, tailing by less than one point behind LeTourneau University. More than 100 teams from countries as globally diverse as the U.S., France, Canada, Mexico, So. Korea and South Africa participated in the competition.

“Watching the team progress from nothing more than a concept to a formidable off road machine is inspiring! I am very proud of the students.” Stated Noah Machtay, Graduate Advisor to the team.

The second competition for the team was the Baja SAE Rochester World Challenge, hosted by the Rochester Institute of Technology. This event, is by far the largest and most competitive field, attracting 141 teams this year from all over the world. The team ranked top 10 in all three design categories, and placed 20th overall.

This year the Stony Brook Motorsports team was sponsored by Flagpoles, Inc., Poletech, Grob, Timken, Polaris, Briggs & Stratton and Fox Racing Shox. All vehicles are powered by a ten-horsepower Intek Model 20 engine donated by Briggs & Stratton Corporation. On-campus sponsors include CEAS, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Undergraduate Student Government, URECA and Dr. Gail Habicht.

Pictured Above: The 2006-2007 Stony Brook Motorsports Team holding awards for 2nd place overall design and 3rd place overall performance.