These students are entering the competition once again
Fortitude: (From left) Zubair, Vamshi, Karthik, Naveen, Nitin, Maaz, Akshay, Ankit, Nanda, Khader, Mohit, Gurupreet, Raghu, Kevin and Vishwanath (Photo: DC)
Hyderabad: A setback after months of hard work and solid financial investment can dampen many an enthusiastic spirit. However, a team of students from Guru Nanak College who competed in the inter-collegiate competition, BAJA SAE India sometime ago, are made of sterner stuff. Their all-terrain vehicle (ATV) had a collision, their engine was damaged and they weren’t able to execute their plans for the vehicle.
The students did not let this pull them down. They are entering again with changes made to their vehicle using lessons learnt last year.
“We have spent only Rs 2.1 lakh this time (compared to Rs 6 lakh last time). We are reusing several parts from last year. The gearbox is the major component on which we spent money. We had used manual gears last time and found that it was slowing down our acceleration. Now we have a totally redesigned CVT (continuously variable transmission) gearbox,” says S. Karthik, a student and member of the team.
“The vehicle or ‘buggy’, as we call it can reach a speed of 60 kmph in 9 seconds and we want to reduce that time to 6,” he adds.
These students are entering the BAJA SAE competition once again presents students an opportunity to hone design, engineering, planning, manufacturing, marketing and racing skills for All Terrain Vehicles. Currently, the students are on their way to Ahmedabad where the selections for the next season are scheduled. This year the stakes are high. There will be 700 teams instead of 400 with participants from Brazil, South Africa and Korea etc.
With their fingers crossed and seat belts strapped tight, the students are hoping to make it to the final event in 2015. “The results come out in September and we are hoping to make the cut. Around 100 teams will be selected,” says Karthik.
( Source : dc )
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