When you think of a weekend, it usually involves things like, a bed, you and lots of sleep (if you are single that is) and sometimes a bottle of something potent, shiny glassware and ice cubes, of course. But this weekend was nothing of that sort. Mahindra called us down all the way to Indore for the 6th edition of BAJA SAE India and might I say, it was an eye-opener. Like always students from various colleges were eager to showcase what they – as a college and team – had put together. Around 200 colleges applied to BAJA SAEIndia but only 100 passed the zero tolerance theme of this year’s event. This theme referred to 100% adherence to guidelines and safety rules.
All the cars underwent strict technical inspection at Pithampur’s Baja site and around 15 teams were rejected. With guests like Dr. Bharat Soni of University of Alabama USA, Dilip Chabbaria of DC Design and Mr. Ambush Sharma of Ministry of Heavy industry & Public Enterprises, the event started with basic static evaluation which is scoring the design of the vehicle, cost evaluation and marketing presentation. But it all came down to the final day when all teams that qualified put their creations to the test in an endurance race. It was not the boys that had their hearts in their mouths, but the two all-girls team were nervous too.
The race was flagged off and the 91 teams which qualified tried their very best to zoom past each other as they munched in on the laps. College of Engineering, Pune held on to the lead as, one-by-one, cars succumbed to the heat and other technical faults.
The IGIT, Delhi girls suffered a major problem with their front suspension which resulted in their elimination from the race. On the other hand, the girls from Cummins College, Pune managed to complete the endurance race. In a setting dominated by boys, this was super stuff! In the overall standings it was College of Engineering, Pune that bagged first prize followed by Krishna Institute of Engineering and Technology, Ghaziabad while PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh enjoyed third position.
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