Baja SAE — Chassis Design & Team Leadership

As Co-President and Chassis Team Lead for Villanova's Baja SAE team, I directed the core mechanical engineering of a high-performance off-road racing vehicle. Baja SAE demands rigorous justification of every component. I led the team through advanced structural optimization, utilizing SolidWorks Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to simulate torsional rigidity, roll-over impact forces, and suspension load paths.

Developing the chassis required continuous iterative design to balance weight reduction with structural integrity. By systematically identifying areas of low stress and optimizing tube wall thicknesses in SolidWorks, we achieved a massive 30% reduction in chassis weight. This required a deep understanding of material properties and welded joint stresses to ensure the space-frame could withstand the tons of stress, roll-over impact forces, and severe dynamic loading experienced during brutal real-world off-road endurance races.

A chassis cannot exist in isolation. I had to collaborate closely with multiple sub-teams—including Powertrain, Suspension, and Drivetrain—ensuring the frame design perfectly accommodated their components, clearances, and mounting hardpoints. Furthermore, every millimeter of the design and physical fabrication process had to strictly adhere to over a hundred pages of complex SAE rules and safety specifications. This project demanded extreme cross-functional teamwork, translating digital models into precision-notched, TIG-welded steel tubing that worked seamlessly as a unified high-performance vehicle.