About Baja SAE

In the early 1900s, dozens of automobile manufacturers operated in the United States and in countries around the globe. During this time, these manufacturers quickly realized the need for common technical design solutions and engineering standards, and many engineers in the automobile industry expressed a desire to have "free exchange of ideas" in order to expand their individual technical knowledge base. These needs and desires led to the founding of the Society of Automobile Engineers in New York City on January 20, 1905.

The Society grew over the next few years, adding aircraft and off-highway machinery engineers in 1916 to become the Society of Automotive Engineers, an organization chartered to represent engineers in all types of mobility professions.

Over the past 100 years, SAE has grown in ways that its founders could have only imagined, particularly in the Collegiate Design Series realm.

In 1976, this innovative program was established with the first Mini Baja event held at the University of South Carolina and Fort Jackson. In just two years, SAE divided the Mini Baja competition into three regional events: East, Midwest and West

Today, Baja SAE still consists of three regional competitions that simulate real-world engineering design projects and their related challenges. Engineering students are tasked to design and build an off-road vehicle that will survive the severe punishment of rough terrain and sometimes even water.

The object of the competition is to provide SAE student members with a challenging project that involves the planning and manufacturing tasks found when introducing a new product to the consumer industrial market. Teams compete against one another to have their design accepted for manufacture by a fictitious firm. Students must function as a team to not only design, build, test, promote, and race a vehicle within the limits of the rules, but also to generate financial support for their project and manage their educational priorities