Olin Baja

As a member of Olin's Baja SAE off-road racing team, I contributed to the design, simulation, fabrication, and testing of various components, with a primary focus on suspension systems. I began as a suspension team member, then fabrication lead, transitioned to project manager, and now serve as a senior engineer. As project manager, I helped lead the team to successfully pass inspection and compete in our first endurance race since 2019. 

Above are some of my favorite photos from the 2024 Michigan competition. It's a rather long story as to how it went, but put simply, we didn't get much sleep. We left with an unfinished car, spent the first two and a half days finishing it there, and then attempted inspection midday on the last day. We failed miserably, and the situation seemed dire. But in an amazing feat of teamwork and commitment, we spent the next four hours welding on new chassis members and fixing the long list of violations. We returned 5 minutes before closing, passing inspection, and then brakes (without having the chance even to test them before). 

The endurance race went as expected. Without adequate testing on the car beforehand, it suffered a suspension failure halfway into the first lap. It was towed out, repaired, and sent back in only to fail again. After being towed and repaired a second time, it returned to the track for the remaining 30 minutes of the race and completed five laps.

Competition was a fantastic experience, and I am proud to be a part of this team. 

The rear wheel hubs are the most complicated part fabricated in-house. To successfully fabricate these hubs, I first used the horizontal band saw to cut the blanks. They were brought to the correct thickness, and mounting holes were machined on the mill. A mounting fixture was also machined on the mill to mount the hubs onto the CNC mill. Following tens of thousands of lines of G-code, both sides of the hubs were machined, including various operations. Finally, they were brought to the correct diameter on the lathe. Both hubs were finished with accurate final dimensions and have worked flawlessly on this vehicle.  

 Above is a collection of photos representing my involvement in the suspension assembly. Here, I TIG and MIG welded the suspension arms to extend the half-shaft. Furthermore, I worked on the development of the suspension geometry and simulation.