Baja SAE SPEED Team
At Clarkson University, you build your future one part at a time.
We’re not just any club, we are the designers, manufacturers, and engineers of our SAE Mini-Baja car. Every year we are challenged to build a single-seat, all-terrain sporting vehicle that is to be a prototype for a reliable, maintainable, ergonomic, and economical production vehicle that serves a recreational user market.
So, where do you start? Whether you’re into building things or just think Baja could be fun we welcome everyone, from all majors across campus. Our competitions require us to be a well-rounded team with individuals who bring an aspect to each part of the competition, we must function as a team to design, engineer, build, test, promote, and compete with a vehicle within the limits of the rules.
About Baja SAE
In Baja SAE, engineering students are tasked with designing and building a single-seat, all-terrain sporting vehicle that is to be a prototype for a reliable, maintainable, ergonomic, and economic production vehicle that serves a recreational user market. The students must function as a team to design, engineer, build, test, promote, and compete with a vehicle within the limits of the rules.
Why join the Baja SAE Team?
Clarkson’s spirit of discovery doesn’t stop once you leave the classroom or the lab. As a community, we continuously pursue new challenges, and SPEED (Student Projects for Engineering Experience and Design) Teams are no different.
We are 100% student-run and managed, consisting of 15-20 students from engineering programs and other majors across the university, working together to solve specific hands-on challenges.
Are you ready to start turning some tools, and manufacturing your own parts? Join Us!
Learn more about the SPEED program as a whole.
Where We Go
Take advantage of our proximity to the Adirondacks right in our backyard to provide a great playground for testing, competitions, and more with our Baja Car.
OktoBAJAfest is an exhibition race, hosted by Clarkson University and organized by Clarkson Baja Alumni, for student-built vehicles conforming to the rules of the Mini Baja series.
This event invites student Baja teams from across the US and Canada to travel to Clarkson University Seven Springs, an 85-acre property formerly used as a downhill and cross-country ski location from 1974 to 1990. The property has a 250’ vertical drop and is home to miles of mountain bike and Baja trails.
This festival includes (5) separate events including short track, Baja cross (suspension and maneuverability), hill climb, technical inspection, and a final endurance race. The festival takes place in late September or the first weekend of October.
EDN is another exhibition race, hosted by Laval University in Quebec City, Canada.
This snowy competition is held in early February and usually is part of the city's winter festival. All competition events occur on the Laval campus on a snow and ice-covered race track. These conditions make for a unique and rewarding driving experience.
EDN is an engaging event where our team members are able to form strong connections with each other and other Baja teams from both the US and Canada.
Each year, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) hosts up to three competitions across the United States. Clarkson Baja attends one or two of these events every spring, along with up to 100 Baja SAE teams from other colleges and universities.
SAE competitions consist of both static and dynamic events that determine each team's final score. Static events include technical inspections, cost reports, design reviews, and a business presentation. Dynamic events include acceleration, hill climb, sled pull, maneuverability, suspension and traction, and finally, a four-hour wheel-to-wheel endurance race with up to 100 cars on the track at the same time.
For these competitions, the team has traveled to locations including Arizona, California, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Washington in the past five years.
Contact Baja SAE Team
Ready Set Go...
Clarkson University Baja SAE
8 Clarkson Ave
Potsdam, NY 13699
baja@js-ayds.com
Instagram | clarksonbaja
More Than Just A Club
Joining a SPEED team is more than just joining a club! No matter what team you join and what project you decide to work on here at Clarkson Univesity, you get hands-on experience. You are part of the entire process even if you only specialize in a specific area.
In Baja SAE, we design it, make it, build it, and break it!
The Student Prototyping Machine Shop at Clarkson University
The Machine Shop at Clarkson University is your one-stop shop for any design and fabrication needs.
Most actively used for SPEED (Student Projects for Engineering Experience and Design) competitions, all students can access the Student Prototyping Machine Shop's state-of-the-art facilities. Use the shop's equipment and resources to build the vital piece for your team competition. Test and experiment with your own devices. Complete projects for courses that involve design. Take the idea of a hands-on education at its most literal level and see what you can achieve.
