India's first vehicle design competition in 2007

New Delhi, Sept 15: Indian engineering students will get a world class opportunity that will simulate real-world engineering design projects and their related challenges.

Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE) India today announced 'Baja', an event that will task Indian engineering students to design and build an off-road vehicle that will survive the severe punishment of rough terrain.

This competition is open to any SAE student member team studying in undergraduate engineering college in India with age above 18 years and having a permanent driving license.

Only 25 teams from various engineering colleges would be selected through a screening process for the event which will be held next year.

''The Baja competition which is to be held for the first time in India, endeavours to inculcate and harness talent to augment design and engineering skills of the Indian students. We are looking at getting participants from india's top engineering institutions,'' said SAE India President and Mahindra&Mahindra President (Automotive Sector) Pawan Goenka.

The competition is positioned to take the teams through the whole challenge of developing a vehicle from conception to delivery.

Not only would each team be competing to have its design accepted for manufacture by a fictious firm, they would also have to generate financial support for their project.

The competition goals include that the vehicle must be safe, easily transported, easily maintained and fun to drive. SAE India will provide the required engine to the participating teams.

SAE is a network of engineers, executives, educators and students from more than 90 countries who come together to share information and exchange ideas for advancing the engineering of mobility systems.

Baja is a series of widely popular and innovative international competitions and consists of three regional competitions in the US and in South Africa, Mexico, Brazil and Korea.

UNI