Check out the 2018 1st place season recap video!

What is RIT Baja?

Baja SAE is a collegiate design series sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). RIT Baja is just one of over one hundred regularly competing teams in the North American region alone. The team has a long-standing record of excellence in the competition and consistently demonstrates sound engineering skills and race strategy, illustrated by placing in the top ten teams for over a decade.

The team builds a new off-road vehicle every year that can survive and overcome a multitude of different terrains and obstacles. The competition is judged on the design and performance of vehicles through numerous events ranging from static events like sales, cost, and design, to the dynamic events like acceleration, hill climb, and maneuverability. The competition culminates in a 4 hour endurance race testing the vehicle's ability to sustain repeated and intense transient loadings.

RIT Baja is built on the ideals of fostering engineering development for any student interested in furthering their personal growth. The team takes pride in creating an open environment allowing students to push their creativity and do so in a collaborative manor, spanning many disciplines. Students of any major, year, or background are encouraged to be a part of the team. This provides the benefit of diverse mindsets and a truly tight knit group. The team succeeds by exposing all members to the engineering design process and helping them to think in a way that promotes an organized and creative approach to multi-faceted problems. Students work side-by-side with hands on projects as they design, manufacture, and test their ideas. Emphasis is placed on the effects that ripple out from their efforts, showing members that their work matters. RIT Baja is a family, founded on determination and strong core values.