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A BIO-DIESEL BAJA VEHICLE AND STUDENT COMPETITION
Description:
The SAE Mini Baja® competition is an extremely popular design competition for students in engineering programs around the world. The competition focuses on the design of an off-road vehicle for performance and cost-of-production. The objective of the proposed effort is to convert a vehicle created for the SAE Mini Baja® competition to a bio-diesel vehicle. Through the conversion, the rules for a new competition will be created, resembling the SAE Mini Baja®, but focusing on vehicle performance and the production bio-derived diesel fuels, employing the carbon cycle to produce sustainable automotive propulsion. To capture the student’s fascination with automotive design and racing, the new competition would still employ elements of mechanical design for “off-road” performance. However, the competition winner will be the team that balances performance with the most cost-effective and convenient methods of producing bio-derived fuels to run the vehicle. The cost of fuel production and the quality of fuel created for the competition would be major aspects of scoring. If awarded, the efforts of Phase II would involve developing a national competition seeking to reach and encourage students from around the nation, and eventually the world, to begin development of sustainable automotive propulsion systems.