It is that time of the year when engineering students dissolve the four walls of the classroom and enter a space where feet do not dare fall. Only a specially designed off-roading vehicle is able to tread this space. This is the world of the BAJA SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers), a competitive sport which bridges the gap between academia and the automobile industry.
The sport originated in 1926 and gets its name from its place of origin — Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula . One of the teams representing Chennai this year was from Sri Venkateshwara College of Engineering (SVCE). The 26-member team represented the city at Himachal Pradesh’s Chitkara University and returned with a second runners-up trophy in the innovation category. Their novelty? The team built a two portal axle (Portal gear lifts) buggy or vehicle which increases ground clearance and aids in off-roading abilities.
