SAE Oregon Section set to Host 2004 SAE Mini Baja West Competition, April 22-24

WARRENDALE, Pa., April 1 -- The SAE Oregon Section is set to host the 2004 SAE Mini Baja West Competition. The event will be held April 22-24 in and around the greater Portland area, and is the first of 3 regional Mini Baja events in the U.S., part of the 2004 SAE Collegiate Design Series.

This year's event will feature a total of 89 teams hailing from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; the teams typically consist of 5-10 students each. The participants are challenged to design, build, and operate an off-road vehicle utilizing a 10-horsepower engine, donated by Briggs and Stratton Co.

Each vehicle must meet strict safety requirements and be functional over both rough terrain and deep water. The event combines the excitement of motorsports with advanced education in testing students' technical abilities and teaching teamwork and a systems approach to engineering.

  General schedule of events is as follows:

  Thursday, April 22nd: Static Displays - Portland Expo Center

The competition will begin with the vehicles on display between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM. During the day, each of the vehicles will undergo a strict safety/design inspection. Teams will also present oral sales presentations to contest judges, which are not open to the public, as scheduled.

Friday, April 23rd: Dynamic Testing - Washougal MX Park, Washougal, WA

Day #2 will see teams "start their engines" for a series of dynamic tests to determine how well their vehicles perform. Acceleration, Hill Climb, Maneuverability, and the Rock/Tree Crawl Tests will take place throughout the day.

Saturday, April 24th: Endurance Event - Washougal MX Park, Washougal, WA

The competition will roar to an exciting climax with a rigorous, non-stop endurance event from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The goal is to finish the most laps, over land and water, in the allotted time. The race weighs heavily on the overall point scale and truly tests the limits of both the vehicles and teams.

For additional information, maps, and detailed information for this event, please log onto http://www.sae.org/students/minibaja.htm . Media may contact Keith Hancock, SAE PR, at 1-800-441-2919 or via e-mail at khancock@sae.org.

SAE is a non-profit engineering and scientific organization dedicated to the advancement of mobility technology to better serve humanity. Nearly 84,000 engineers and scientists who are SAE members develop technical information on all forms of self-propelled vehicles, including automobiles, aircraft, aerospace craft, trucks, buses, marine, rail and transit machinery. This information is disseminated through SAE meetings, books, electronic products and databases, technical papers, standards, reports, and professional development programs.