Non-profit engineering and scientific society SAEINDIA announced the start of the Virtual Round of the 15th edition of the BAJA SAEINDIA series (Digital Event).
With the theme 'Strategies Revamp,' the event is divided into three phases, beginning with the preliminary round, which concluded earlier in September. Students who have to conceptualise design, build, test and validate a single-seater four-wheeled All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) will be able to participate in the event's remaining phases either virtually or physically.
The second phase will include Virtual Dynamic Events such as Acceleration, Braking, Gradeability, Suspension & Traction, Manoeuvrability, and All-Terrain Performance that will be combined with Digital Static Events using Automotive Simulation Software, IPG CarMaker, similar to BAJA SAEINDIA 2021.
The third and final phase will involve physical testing of these vehicles. This phase will be separated into two parts: mBAJA, which includes 10hp gasoline-powered ATVs, and eBAJA, which includes ATVs with a 6Kwh electric motor.
For this edition, 203 teams across 185 Engineering colleges and 25 cities have registered for the out-of-class education programme (mBAJA-130; eBAJA-73) with two international registrations, one from North America and the other from Nepal.
The mBAJA physical event will take place in mid-February 2022 in Pithampur, while the eBAJA will take place in March 2022 in Bangalore.
Dr K C Vora, Organising Committee Chairman, BAJA SAEINDIA, illustrated the history of BAJA since 2007. He also highlighted, since 2015, the importance of eBAJA in supporting the manpower needs of India's ever-expanding electric mobility industry and how he predicts a 30% penetration of electric vehicles in India by 2030.
Harshit, Convenor, SAEINDIA, said, 'Colleges from all over the nation are aspiring to perform their very best and hit the podium. There are significant number of teams from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Delhi, and Punjab. Teams from Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Himachal, and Odisha are also participating. Furthermore, intending to expand the spectrum of learning, we introduced the participation of international teams till Phase-2, for both mBAJA and eBAJA. We have received participation from Nepal and North America.'
Dr Madhu Chitkara, Pro-Chancellor, Chitkara University, Punjab, said the University believes in building a skilful society and promoting research, innovation in collaboration with industry and academic institutions. 'The vision of BAJA SAEINDIA and our University is in sync. We joined hands in the year 2015. As the host institute of Virtual BAJA SAEINDIA for the last six years, we feel proud in supporting this programme,' he added.
NB: Photo is representational.