Students to Unveil Competition Car

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —The University of Arkansas Mini-Baja Team will be competing May 24-27 in the Society of Automotive Engineers Mini-Baja Midwest Competition in Elkhorn, Wisc. The students have been working for the past year to get their off-road vehicle designed, fabricated and ready for the competition and will be showing off its speed, maneuverability and unique design during the Team Day meeting on May 22.

Members of the media are invited to the unveiling of the team’s official 2006 competition vehicle at 1:30 p.m. Monday, May 22 at the University Farm on Garland Avenue .

For more than 20 years, the UA’s mechanical engineering department has hosted a team for the Midwest Region competition — which is heralded as the largest collegiate automotive design competition in the world. More than 140 teams from across the country will participate. The competition is a four-day event, featuring acceleration tests, braking tests, a maneuverability course, chain pull and mud bog.. It ends on Saturday with a four-hour endurance race on a dirt and grass racetrack.

Mini-Baja competitors simulate real-world engineering design projects and their related challenges. Engineering students are challenged with designing and building an off-road vehicle that will survive the severe punishment of rough terrain.

Several members of the team have been involved with the program for three years, including veteran co-captains Casey Grissom and T.J. Thompson. They are led by faculty advisor Dr. Leon West and assistant advisors Jason Brannen and Ben Fleming. The teams all use 10 horsepower Briggs and Stratton engines to keep the power plants consistent from team to team. The frame, suspension components and drive train are designed and built from scratch. This year’s UA Mini-Baja car can achieve top speeds of nearly 40 mph, while navigating over jumps, through mud and crossing logs.

Dr. David Renfroe, founder of Renfroe Engineering and a former faculty member at the U of A, has given $10,000 toward the design of the vehicle. As a former advisor of the UA Mini-Baja team, Renfroe said he supports the team’s participation in the competitions because it is good for his company. Renfroe knows the skills it takes to design a competitive vehicle, and finds that students develop skills from the experience that are often valuable to company’s like his. Renfroe employs several former Mini-Baja team members to work at his Farmington-based company.