UA Engineering Students Design and Race Mini-Baja Vehicle

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s Crimson GRITS (Girls Racing in the South) will soon be tackling tough terrain and conquering water challenges as they compete in the 2007 Society of Automotive Engineers Mini-Baja Competition from April 12-15 in Ocala, Fla.

SAE engineering students are asked to design and build an off-road vehicle that will survive rough terrain, rolling hills, sandy flats and a challenging water course. The object of the competition is to provide Society of Automotive Engineers student members with a challenging project that involves the planning and manufacturing tasks encountered when introducing a new product to the consumer market.

The event’s overall goal is for teams to 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.

Members of the 2007 Crimson GRITS mini-baja team are:

• Martha Addison, a junior majoring in aerospace engineering from Beaufort, S.C.
• Beth Broughton, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering from Berry
• Meredith Caldwell, team captain and a senior majoring in mechanical engineering from Millbrook
• Bianca Covington, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering from Houston, Texas
• Sarah Grano, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering from Owens Crossroads
• Christina Ibrahim, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering from Baileyton
• Joan Reichwein, a sophomore majoring in metallurgical and materials engineering from Cullman
• Sarah Reichwein, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering from Cullman
• Amanda Watchel, a freshman majoring in aerospace and mechanical engineering from Las Cruces, N.M.
• Sarah Witt, a freshman majoring in aerospace engineering from Lexington, Ky.

All vehicles are powered by a 10-horsepower Intek Model 20 engine donated by Briggs & Stratton Corp. Use of the same engine by all the teams creates a more challenging engineering design test. The students designed and built the mini-baja under the guidance of project adviser Dr. Beth Todd, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

In addition, the Crimson GRITS are the recent recipients of the SAE Challenge to Women Leaders Award, as awarded by the SAE Women Engineers Committee.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has about 1,900 students and nearly 100 faculty. In the last seven years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater scholars, Hollings scholars and Portz scholars.