All of the slots for this year s competition filled within 15 minutes of registration
opening in October. There are 97 teams registered, with 11 from outside the U.S.
The Tennessee Tech team came in ninth place at last year s event held at Auburn University.
The 2016 Tennessee Tech Baja team are co-captains Riley Collins from Kingston and Brian Sharp from Kingsport, lead designer Logan Atkins from Oak Ridge, and lead fabricator Kurt Pierchoski from Pulaski.
Other teams from Tennessee include Middle Tennessee State University, Lipscomb University, the University of Memphis, the University of Tennessee at Martin, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Competitors include Auburn University, Clemson University, Georgia Tech, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Notre Dame, Michigan State University and Virginia Tech.
On Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the acceleration, Eastman Chemical sled pull, suspension and traction, and Magna land maneuverability events will take place.
The most active day will be Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. when the 97 Baja cars will take on the two-and-a-half-mile endurance course, in addition to 25 constructed obstacles, on the naturally rugged terrain adjacent to the pavilion.
Tennessee Tech has been competing in Baja SAE events since 1977, with 12 first place finishes. The closest team to Tennessee Tech in overall first place finishes has only won six.
The team aspires to be more than that, though. The team often visits schools, fairs, festivals and meetings stimulating the interest in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) to young children in the community. Beyond the local community, the Tennessee Tech Baja team was asked to send senior team members to India to give seminars to help their Baja SAE teams become competitive on a global level.
The event is a free and open to the public.
