About - Our Mission & History

Our Mission

To design and build a safe, reliable off-road vehicle capable of negotiating various terrains with speed and agility to compete in the 2008 SAE Mini Baja competition.

Our History

While in a sophomore design class, a discussion of a rack-and-pinion from an old Mini Baja car peaked the interest of a few mechanical engineering students. These inspired students decided to look into the Mini Baja culture a bit further, and they discovered a whole other world where they could combine their engineering education with their love for adventure and racing.

The McMaster Mini Baja team has come a long was since then. In a year and a half, the team has raised enough funds through generous sponsorship to design, build and test their first Mini-Baja car. Throughout the construction of the car, the only location to build and store it was in a tiny garage owned by some friends. Some of the very dedicated team members were at this garage every weekend for two months to prepare for their first international race. The team's hard work paid off at the 2007 SAE Mini-Baja Competition in Rochester, NY as they surpassed their goal of just completing the race, placing 33rd in the endurance race and 49th overall out of 141 teams .

It is estimated that McMaster has not had a Mini Baja team for over 20 years as no previous records can be found, with the exception of a few scrap parts from an old car. McMaster engineering is steeped with a history of high academic achievements and producing quality, high-spirited teams. McMaster engineers have begun to carry that proud tradition into a venue that has not been attempted in many years, the SAE Mini Baja event.