Cal Poly and SMTCL in the SAE Collegiate Challenge

California Polytechnic Institute (Pomona, CA) competed in the Collegiate Baja Offroad Competition that was held in Pittsburg, KS, on May 25-28 and finished in fourth place. The event, sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE; Warrendale, PA) saw over 100 teams competing from universities all over the world. Students from the United States, Canada, Mexico, India, China, South Korea all participated in the competition by designing and building an off-road vehicle and then taking part in a variety of events, with scoring based on overall design, cost, acceleration, and manueverability and endurance. The event was won by the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), which finished first in five of the individual competitions.

Cal Poly designed and built a new vehicle in their mechanical engineering lab. Parts on this vehicle were machined using a VMC1000B and VivaTurn Lathe provided by SMTCL (City of Industry, CA). “Through these state-of-the-art CNC machine tools and the ingenuity of our students, we put a great car on the track, but more importantly, we are preparing our students for the real world of manufacturing,” said Clifford Stover, MSE PE, a professor and the engineering director at Cal Poly.

“The CNC machining centers we put in their lab use Fanuc controls, which is the control that these students will most likely see when they go out in the workforce,” noted Jerry McCarty, the chief operating officer of SMTCL. The students use the machines to manufacture engine and powertrain and suspension components. “We are proud to be a part of the learning
experience for these students and the skills they are obtaining will benefit them and their future employers for years to come,” added McCarty.

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