Frcslrnwn Loy(ln Suncllin Lest clrii·c~ thl' 2015 BaJo C/u!J cur on .'-,'cpl. 24 to !J<llll inspiration.for dt'siyniny th( 2016 cnr. !iu,iu Cluh relied hcu1·ify onfrl'shme11 tofil/ mu.7or rnfe.; such as drivers. clcsiy11<•rs one/ huildl'rs fo1· the 2016 cell" Photo hy Ou•en Brnu•11 .Jw1ior l'ctcr Krnft and fre~hmun \lex Kruus meet in the Ulrey J\leclwnical I:nyi11een11y Loh to design the 2016 Baja CCll' Oil Sepl. 29. This lj('Ur th( 111emhers or B(ljQ desi911ecl 11101'(' <ietuifrd purls of the cur, like the knuckles. which hoc! hccn ordered f" mude in past years. I Photo by Becca Riley DESIGN AND DRIVE Hy llaley An:wlone I Kristil!Cl Kiser Baja Club, the engineering department's race vehicle experts, planned on growing and expanding the program this year for an upcoming competition. Baja vehicles were custom-fabricated off-road vehicles designed to race in competitions. Throughout the school year, members of Baja Club worked long hours together to design and build a Baja race vehicle for competition. Assistant professor of engineering and Baja sponsor Rich Wells maintained a positive outlook for the future teams and upcoming members. Wells said effectively training the younger members of the team would provide stronger leadership on the team in the years to come. "The three things we are trying to accomplish this year are make the car more competitive, build a knowledge level of the students and build team camaraderie," Wells said. Captain of the Baja Club senior Katelyn Ludwig, said the older members intentionally included younger team members so they could pass down knowledge from years before. Lab Director of Engineering and Physics and Baja sponsor Wes Plybon had been working with Baja club from the start but said he saw major growth and expansion in 2015. This being Plybon's fourth year working with the team, he was excited about so many fresh faces wanting to get involved. "We love the interest we are having with the younger groups," Plybon said. "Hopefully we can have some good underclassmen that are able to jump in and do some solid work for us. If that happens I am pretty confident it will go well." According to senior Landon Martin, a member of Baja Club, they were not redesigning the whole race vehicle, just working on the small things. Martin said the designing process was easier because they had experience and only had to make minor adjustments. The team did not make many changes to the race vehicle compared to past years, aside from minor changes to the suspension, frame and steering. Ludwig said she improved part of the race vehicle for her senior design project. "I am working on the vehicle's knuckles, which is where the tire, spindle, brakes and suspension all come together," Ludwig said. "In past years we have always purchased the knuckles, but this year we are custom-making them to have more freedom with our design." Senior Jordan Brewer returned to the team after a year off eager to help, attending meetings twice a week and working five hours a week on the race vehicle. Brewer said he and his teammates were striving for excellence. "We are excited," Brewer said. "It is always exciting to refine our design and tiy to do better." EN(.INEEHIN<,. PHYSICS, HEII\VIOHAL SCIENCES I 101
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