As the 10th edition of the Mahindra BAJA SAE India comes to a close, it celebrates the skills of young and talented engineers.
If you’re a budding engineer and have a nose for all things automotive, the Mahindra BAJA SAE is the place to be. Running in its 10th edition this year, the event has grown leaps and bounds since its inception in 2007. In its first year, 27 teams participated in the competition. A decade later now, the BAJA SAE India witnessed participation from 415 engineering teams. To say that the scale at which it operates now is spectacular would be an understatement really. It’s one mega, mega event.
While I am a “qualified” mechanical engineer myself, I never really managed to make it to the event even once during my college years. Yup, I wasn’t that bright – I admit it. Fortunately, though, I just got the opportunity to cover the final round of the Mahindra BAJA SAE India 2017. And from what I can tell, I’ve been missing out on a lot of action.
Like every year, the final round of the competition was held at the NATRiP facility in Pithampur, Indore. Over 118 teams made it to the final endurance round in both mBAJA and eBAJA (electric) categories this year. The majority of the participants were, of course, competing in the former category since eBAJA is relatively new – this year was its third edition, so only 8 teams competed in the electric endurance test. In the mBAJA, though, the competition was cutthroat – with 110 teams lining up at the dirt track.
For the uninitiated, the BAJA SAE India basically serves as a platform for young engineering students, allowing them to get an out-of-classroom and acquire hands-on experience at building a vehicle. As for the vehicle itself – it’s a 4-wheeled single-seater ATV, which each team designs and fabricates on their own. It’s a four-day event that kicks off with a basic static evaluation round that comprises of a design evaluation, cost evaluation and marketing presentation. The shortlisted teams then move to the final round, where their single seat, off-road prototypes are further evaluated on various parameters – including engineering design, cost and technology innovation. The teams also have to prove the worth of their vehicles in acceleration, speed, sled-pull and manoeuvrability tests. The final round is durability – the endurance round that is – where the finalists take their respective vehicles for a 4-hour (mBAJA) and 2-hour (eBAJA) run around the NATRiP test track.
After toting up scores from each round, the College of Engineering from Pune emerged as the overall winner of the 10th edition of the BAJA series in India. And it’s a remarkable feat since it’s their fifth win in the event since 2007 and third in a row. Alard College of Engineering, Pune, and Dr. BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, completed the podium in second and third spots respectively. Singhad College of Engineering, Pune, was awarded the ‘Best eBAJA Team.’ In addition to that, numerous other awards were handed out to different teams for the individual rounds.
However, what was truly heartening to see at the event was the passion and enthusiasm with which thousands of students participated in the 2017 BAJA SAE India. Personally, it was inspirational to witness the vigour amongst the students for the event – the atmosphere at the venue was akin to a grand fest, but one with young and talented automobile engineers. And what’s truly inspiring is that they know exactly which direction they’re heading in – and that’s not something you could say for most engineers about a decade ago I think.
As for the teams who couldn’t make it to the event this year, here’s some good news. From next year onwards, the Mahindra BAJA SAE India will have two BAJA events. In addition to Pithampur, the second round will be held at IIT Ropar in Punjab, thereby allowing 80-100 more teams to be accommodated for the event. So, if you’re an automotive-engineer-in-the-making, you’ve now got more opportunities to get your hands dirty. And it’s something that you should definitely pursue.
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