One-Day International Workshop: A Report

One-Day International Workshop: A Report BAJA SAEINDIA: An Introduction BAJA SAEINDIA series, an all India engineering challenge for undergraduate engineering students designed on the lines of Mini-Baja competitions in US, first started in India in the year 2007 under the aegis of SAEINDIA and ARAI. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., the leading Automobile Manufacturing Company of India, has been the co-sponsor for the event since inception and the title and principal sponsor for last four consecutive years. In the year 2007 BAJA SAEINDIA was launched under the leadership of Dr. Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive Sector, M&M Ltd and former president, SAEINDIA. Dr. KC Vora, the then Sr. Asst. Director, ARAI, was the convener for this first event. The event is organized on the lines of BAJA SAE Series, organized globally by Society of Automotive Engineers (www.sae.org) across six different countries. BAJA SAE simulates the real world engineering challenges and under its purview, groups of undergraduate student are assigned the tasks of designing, building, testing, promoting and racing an off road vehicle that will withstand the rigors of a rough terrain. The underlying purpose of the event is to provide SAE student members with challenges that reflect the steps involved in the entire process from design and engineering to production and marketing. Teams vie with one another to get their designs accepted by a virtual firm and are expected to raise funds for supporting their projects, without hampering their educational priorities. SAEINDIA: An Affiliate of SAE International Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is a network of engineers, executives, educators and students from more than 100 countries who come together to share information, exchange ideas and undertake initiatives for advancing the engineering of mobility systems catering to land, water and space. The body is involved in creating avenues for both professionals and students alike to generate awareness and promote futuristic technologies. A few such initiatives undertaken by SAE are the World Congress, Tech Symposiums and Conferences, Professional Development Programs, etc. for practicing engineers and the AeroDesign Challenge, Snowmobile Design Challenge, Formula SAE, BAJASAE, FE Cycle, Supra SAE and A World in Motion for the students. SAEINDIA, founded in 2001, is an all India charitable society which was formally established as an official affiliate of SAE International in the year 2002. The funds raised by SAEINDIA foundation is channelized towards supporting diverse educational activities, viz. collegiate design programs, doctoral scholar programs, engineering scholarships, and industrial lectureship programs. Besides, they also provide financial assistance to students, scientists, and other outstanding contributors to mobility technology in India. The funding largely comprises of donations from corporate organizations, allied societies, individuals and sponsorships. SAEINDIA, the Indian chapter of SAE, has become the largest affiliate of SAE with over 50,000 student members, 5000 professional memberships

and 400 collegiate clubs. It works with five sections all over India North, East, West, South and Bangalore sections and has the headquarter at Chennai. National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project i.e. NATRiP, a significant and major initiative in the Indian automotive sector, represents a unique, liaison between the Govt. of India, several state governments and the Indian Automotive Industry, in a bid to create a state-of-art testing, validation and R&D Infrastructure in the country. The project involves, continually, in creating core global competencies in Automotive Sector in India besides facilitating seamless integration of Indian Automotive Industry with its global counterpart thereby placing the country prominently on the global automotive map. NATRiP has been generous in allotting a portion (70 acres) of its National Automotive Test Tracks (NATRAX) facility exclusively for the BAJA SAEINDIA since inception. BAJA SAEINDIA 2015: Baja SAEINDIA 2015 is the 8th edition of the Baja SAEINDIA series which is slated from 19 th 22 nd Feb. 2015 at NATRAX facility of NATRiP in Pithampur, Indore. This edition marks the 1 st phase of the event becoming international with over 360 domestic teams enrolment and over 10 applications pouring from the territories beyond Indian boundaries. The theme of this year s event, thus, aptly chosen to be BEYOND BOUNDARIES. This amounts to over 8000 students directly involved with the event and a far greater reach through the alumni and the representatives of the respective collegiate clubs. The run up to Baja SAEINDIA comprises of Virtual Baja, technical scrutiny, student workshop, faculty workshop, design/cost report submission etc. All these would finally lead up to the finale Baja SAEINDIA 2015. This is followed by the prestigious HR meet, a platform for the sponsoring companies to recruit the best of talent from the pool of Baja participants. Figure 1: Official Poster 2015 BajaSAEINDIA Objective of International workshop: In-line with the theme we look forward to make India the ultimate destination for BAJA. The entire Baja SAEINDIA fraternity is looking forward to a big show during 2015 Baja SAEINDIA meeting the world-class standards in terms of event execution, vehicle performance and build quality. In order to pull up the home grown teams standard before they are exposed to compete against the international teams, the BAJA SAEINDIA Organizing Committee decided to arrange their interaction with the winners of Mini-Baja, USA through a series of workshops throughout the length and breadth of India. The proposed workshop aimed at imparting the learning from the best international team to the Indian teams in order to make them improve upon the quality of vehicle and raise their level to compete with international

participants. This workshop was arranged for the 112 teams who have cleared the virtual Baja SAEINDIA 2015. TTU Team Composition: A nine membered team of Tennessee Tech University (TTU) team, the 12 time winner of Mini-Baja, USA was invited and flown to Indian sub-continent for their elaborate interactions with Indian teams. The team arrived along their two faculty advisors and their latest winning BAJA vehicle. The team composition follows as below Tennessee Tech (TTU): An Introduction (Reference: www.ttubaja.com ) Tennessee Technological University or TTU popularly known as Tennessee Tech, is an accredited public university located in Cookeville, Tennessee, a city approximately 110 km east of Nashville in United States of America. TTU Team Members List: 1. Mr. David Tyrell Laxton 2. Mr. Michael Gage Babb 3. Mr. Kendall Morgan Hall 4. Mr. Kurt Charles Pierchosk 5. Ms. Samantha Broke White 6. Mr. Daniel Blaine Thomas 7. Mr. Sam William Keener 8. Mr. Ogle Basil Hall 9. Mr. Logan James Atkins Figure 3: TTU Team with their Vehicle, 1977 The TTU Baja story began in a small shop in the basement of Brown Hall in 1977. The program started small, but grew---due in part to its success. Figure 2: TTU Team with dignitaries at VIT TTU Faculty Advisors List: 1. Dr. Dale Alan Wilson 2. Dr. Satish Mahajan Figure 4: Latest winning TTU Baja vehicle (exhibited during the workshops)

Since the program's inception, the TTU team has been very highly decorated, finishing in the top ten in over 80% of the competitions entered. The team has garnered twelve 1st place finishes, the most recent being at Birmingham, AL in 2011. Though the cars have changed significantly throughout the years, the objective has not--and that is to design and build high quality vehicles that win races. TTU Workshop: Schedule A total of three (03) centers all over India were chosen strategically for the TTU workshops in order to reach the maximum number of 2015 Baja SAEINDIA participants, namely, Pune (W. India), Vellore (S. India) and Jaipur (North & Central India). The elaborate schedule follows 1. 10 th Aug 14: College of Engineering, Pune 2. 16 th Aug 14: Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 3. 21 st Aug 14: Jaipur Engg. Coll. & Research Center, Jaipur Figure 5: TTU Workshop Venues TTU Workshop: Agenda & Event Flow A one-day workshop proved to be the big success with an overwhelming response from the entire Indian Baja fraternity. The workshops were totally free-of-charge for the 2015 Baja SAEINDIA participants. The agenda for the entire day was kept uniform at all the locations. It can be briefly seen as follows 1. Pre-workshop vehicle display 2. Introduction 2.1 History of Baja SAE 2.2 History of TTU Baja SAE 3. Team Hierarchy 3.1 Explanation of team composition 3.2 Responsibility of each position 3.3 Knowledge transfer 4. Design Process 4.1 Goal setting 4.2 Understanding of vital components 4.3 Timeline of design 4.4 General Build timeline 5. Prototyping/Testing 5.1 Explanation of prototyping process 5.2 Testing methods 5.3 Failure analysis 5.4 Finite Element Analysis review 6. Frame Design 6.1 Concepts 6.2 General design rules 6.3 Safety 6.4 Analysis 7. Drivetrain Design 7.1 Various types and uses of PWT comp. 7.2 Design guideline 7.3 Safety 7.4 Analysis 8. Suspension, Steering & Brake Design 8.1 Different types 8.2 Brake design 8.3 Design guideline 8.4 Safety 8.5 Analysis 9. Fabrication 9.1 Manufacturability 9.2 Types of machinery & their capability 9.3 Heat Treatment

9.4 Welding 10. Electronic system 10.1 Electronic system review 10.2 Data acquisition system 10.3 Electronic control 10.4 Data analysis 11. Competition Preparation 11.1 Timeline 11.2 What to bring 11.3 Cost report 11.4 What to expect from judges 11.5 Plan to win Nibandhe (OC), Mr. Rajiv Mokashi (OC), Dr. Dale Alan Wilson (TTU Faculty), Dr. Satish Mahajan (TTU Faculty), Mr. Vinay Mundada (OC) and Dr. D N Malkhede, Head of Department Mechanical engineering, COEP. The event at COE, Pune was inaugurated formally by lighting the candle after which Dr. D N Malkhede welcomed all dignitaries. 12. Technical Inspection Preparation 12.1 Key issues 12.2 Rule comprehension 12.3 What to expect from judges 12.4 Brake check 13. Design/Sales Presentation Preparation 13.1 Material to bring 13.2 Setup 13.3 What judges want to see 13.4 Professionalism 14. Race preparation 14.1 Vehicle setup 14.2 What to bring 14.3 Pit set up 15. Feedback session 16. Demonstration of TTU Baja Vehicle 17. Conclusion TTU Workshop: Inauguration 1. COEP, Pune Workshop: 10 th Aug. 2014 Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Director COEP and Dr. K C Vora, Sr. Dy. Director of ARAI and VP, SAEINDIA, graced the event as the Chief Guest and Guest of Honor respectively. Along with them the dais was shared by Mr. Sanjay Figure 6: TTU Workshop at COEP, Pune Teams from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Goa, Diu & Daman participated at COE, Pune. A total of 327 participants from 39 participating teams attended the workshop. 2. VIT, Vellore Workshop: 16 th Aug. 2014 Dr. G. Vishwanathan Chancellor, VIT University and Dr. K C Vora, graced the event as the Chief Guest and Guest of Honor respectively. Along with them the dais was shared by Mr. Sanajy Nibandhe, Dr. Dale Alan Wilson, Dr. Satish Mahajan, Dr. S Narayan, Pro Chancellor VIT, Dr. V Raju, Vice Chancellor VIT, and Dr. S K Sekar, Dean SMBS VIT. The event at VIT, Vellore was inaugurated formally by lighting the candle after which Dr. S K Sekar welcomed all dignitaries.

Teams from Rajasthan, MP, UP, HP, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, J&K, and New Delhi participated at JECRC, Jaipur. A total of 287 participants from 34 teams, participating in 2015 Baja SAEINDIA attended the workshop. TTU Workshop: Overall Feedback Figure 7: Workshop Inauguration VIT, Vellore Teams from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana participated at VIT, Vellore. A total of 367 participants from 31 teams, participating in 2015 Baja SAEINDIA attended the workshop. 3. JECRC, Jaipur Workshop: 21 st Aug. 2014 Mr. Arpit Agrawal, Director JECRC and Dr. K C Vora, graced the event as the Chief Guest and Guest of Honor respectively. Along with them the dais was shared by Dr. Chatraj (OC), Dr. Dale Alan Wilson, Dr. Satish Mahajan, and Mr. Mahavir Choudhary, JECRC. The event at JECRC, Jaipur was inaugurated formally by lighting the candle after which Mr. Mahavir Choudhary welcomed all dignitaries. Figure 8: TTU Workshop at JECRC, Jaipur The TTU workshop proved to be the need of hour as it was an eye-opener for all the student member as well as faculty. The workshop explained the team hierarchy, goal setting, design process, fabrication and preparation for the competition. The participants finally learned how to prepare and win the BAJA event. The TTU vehicle demonstration had been an added advantage for all the participating students. Figure 7: Demonstatrion of Fig. 8 by TTU team The workshop at all three location was well organized. Teams were quite satisfied with one-to-one interactions with their iconic team. The presentation content and TTU team s competency boosted the Indian teams energy and we look forward to the same being reflected during the final event in Feb 15.

2. VIT, Vellore a. Prof. K Gokul Kumar b. Ms. Pooja Changrani 3. JECRC, Jaipur a. Prof. Arpit Agrawal b. Mr. Mahavir Chaudhary Figure 10: Workshop Feedback Compiled The above feedback chart is testimony to the overwhelming response from the Baja passionate community from all over the India. Acknowledgements Baja SAEINDIA OC continues to be indebted to Tennessee Tech Students and Faculty Advisors for their valuable and timely support in making the workshop a grand success. It also is indebted to all the host institutes at each location, their management and volunteers for their support, coordination and hospitality. This section cannot complete without quoting the persistent efforts put by the alumni coordinators deployed at different locations of India. In addition, the Baja SAEINDIA OC expresses its gratitude to the entire Baja community who, directly or indirectly, contributed towards making the workshop a success. We are really excited on the commitment demonstrated by academia towards this outof-classroom learning initiative called BAJA. Fortunately, this is no more constrained within Indian boundaries but much beyond that. This, inevitably, has fuelled our aspiration of making India an ultimate destination of BAJA Internationally! The unwavering and unstinted effort put by the students and staffs of all the host institutes in general cannot be left unquoted without which the event could not have been realized. The Organizing Committee, in particular, would like to congratulate the following student and faculty coordinators for their strive day-in and day-out: 1. COEP, Pune a. Dr. DN Malkhede b. Mr. Suraj Aru Figure 11: Indian & US Team IN-SYNC @ VIT