Mines students in the Division of Engineering designed, built and refined an off-road vehicle which placed fourth overall in a grueling contest with 60 other U.S. and Mexican universities at the 20~(th) annual Society of Automotive Engineer's (SAE) Mini-Baja West Competition April 18-20 in Tempe, Ariz. This is the second year CSM student teams have participated in the competition and the first time two vehicles were entered. The car known as Blaster-95, which was built for the 1995 competition, won the trophy for fourth place overall as well as second place for engineering design and safety. The car was selected as the safest by the judges. The competition was judged by managers of General Motors Truck Division. California State University - Los Angeles came in first place overall, followed by Instituto Tecnologico de Chihauhau in second and Southern Methodist University in third. CSM's second entry, Bandit-96, came in 39 overall, which was good for a first year car. "One of the things we learned was this is an ongoing competition, and to be competitive, you have to go back year after year," said John Steele, CSM assistant professor of engineering and advisor to the Mini-Baja teams.
展开▼
