COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (April 25, 2007) -- The Sunshine State gave Tennessee Tech University's Mini Baja team rays of hope and only a few cloudy moments as the team took second place overall in the regional Baja SAE UCF competition held at the University of Central Florida.

Sandwiched between two French Canadian teams taking first and third place, the TTU team took on rolling hills, sandy flats and the water course with their newly designed vehicle. On route to its second place overall finish, Tennessee Tech placed first in water maneuverability and oral design defense. They took second place in the sled pull and the overall dynamics events and third place in acceleration and endurance.  

"I was really happy with the results," said team captain Andrew Bryant. "We had a good car and a good team. Out of a 1,000-point competition, we finished only about 20 points out of first."

The final overall standings showed Universite De Sherbrooke in first place, followed by TTU in second and Ecole De Technologie Superieure in third. TTU placed over Auburn University, Louisiana State University, Georgia Tech, University of Michigan and Syracuse. Area competitors included Lipscomb University, Middle Tennessee State University and University of Tennessee-Martin.

This year's team, which the sophomore captain says is relatively young, finished in the Top 5 for the 26th time since the team began competing in 1978. Each competition has from 70 to 140 college teams vying for the top spot.

"This year's car was brand new," said Bryant. "We worked a lot on the driver ergonomics to make the care more comfortable."

TTU's team will move on to compete at another regional competition in Rochester, N.Y., on June 6. Traditionally, the team competes in two of the three regional competitions each year.

Mini Baja is a collegiate off-road racing series sponsored by Society of Automotive Engineers. College teams from all over the world fabricate vehicles in the hope that their designs will prove to be tough enough to endure the harsh conditions of the race environment yet fast enough to beat competitors.

Students work on the vehicles on campus in the DENSO Vehicle Engineering Center, thanks to a donation from DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee and the DENSO North America Foundation. General Mills/Pillsbury of Murfreesboro and MTS are also premier sponsors.

Other sponsors included Rhino Linings of Cookeville, Jet-Fab, FabSouth, Dock Buoy (John McCluen Co.), and Mid South Section of SAE.

Team members making the trip to UCF were Jacky Shoulders, Amy McDow. Adviser Dale Wilson, Aaron Baird, David Ballard, Philip Dunham, John Batey, Drew Grimes, Jeff Foote, Amy Newton, Steve Camp, Viktor Orekhov, Andrew Bryant. Frank Smith, Chris Reedy, Matt Lewis, Matt Wilson, Michael Heimsoth, Michael Coradini, and Andrew Edmiston

--Karen Lykins
This information posted 25 April 2007