BAJA SAEINDIA 2016 Concluded [Results Inside]

The 9th edition of BAJA SAEINDIA took place at NATRIP facility at Pithampur, near Indore. The highlight of the event was the endurance run for the mBAJA event. It was flagged off by Dr. Pawan Goenka on February 21 2016. The 2016 edition was harder than before for the participants as the 5.2-kilometer race track was made more difficult than previous editions. A total of 129 teams from both eBAJA and mBAJA competed for the title in the final stage. The winners were decided by a jury based on a score out of 1000 points. Out of these 1000, 600 points were for the endurance run and the remaining 400 points were distributed among static and dynamic events. Different aspects like hill climb ability, suspension setup and acceleration of the vehicle were evaluated on 75 points each.

BAJA SAEINDIA event serves as a platform for engineering students to showcase their skills and gain hands-on experiences of overcoming the obstacles. A total of 20 mBAJA teams and 6 eBAJA teams completed the track. Speaking of the results, College of Engineering, Pune was declared as winners of mBAJA followed by Alard College of Engineering - Pune and SRM University - Chennai as first runners-up and second runners-up respectively. The eBAJA winner was Smt. Kashibai Navale College of Engineering, Pune.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Dr. Pawan Goenka, executive director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said, “I look forward to personally attending BAJA every year. Witnessing thousands of students coming together to celebrate not just the spirit of BAJA but also the philosophy of Rise has given me immense pleasure. Year on year there has been an increase in participation from colleges and this is testimony to BAJA SAEINDIA’s growing popularity and its national significance. We at Mahindra have always believed in thinking beyond the conventional and this forum gives young engineering talent that opportunity to showcase their skills. Mahindra is delighted to be associated with BAJA SAEINDIA 2016 as the title sponsor and with BAJA we are taking forward the philosophy of Mahindra Rise to the next level.”

Dr. Aravind Bharadwaj, president, SAEINDIA, said, "In our endeavor to foster the ‘Make in India’ initiative and achieve the global aspiration of the Indian automotive industry, it is imperative that there is a steady flow of qualified and passionate engineers from the various universities. BAJA is one such initiative from SAEINDIA that provides an opportunity for students to get hands-on learning experience in vehicle design. The rapid increase in the number of teams from SAEINDIA clubs in colleges across the country and the unparalleled enthusiasm of everyone involved with this event is clear evidence that BAJA SAEINDIA is making progress in the right direction."

Mr. Sudhir Gupte, convener, BAJA SAEINDIA 2016, said, “BAJA SAEINDIA is a platform that offers an out-of-classroom learning opportunities for the engineering students and to showcase their talent and skills in presence of auto experts. In addition to that, they learn to plan and execute their ideas by complete coordination and teamwork. The experience of preparing optimum design by carrying out CAD modelling and analysis by using Altair, Ansys software and development of vehicle as their design fabrication to finally testing and validating the prototype built on their own self, makes them ready for the industry. Significant inputs are provided by industry experts through several multi-locational training programs and webinars conducted throughout the year.” He added, “The experience gained helps the students to understand the environment which is similar to the industry they aspire to be part of. Amongst the thrill and adventure, we assess the abilities of participants by testing them on parameters such as leadership skills and theoretic and practical knowledge.”