Eighty plus engineering teams from around the world will participate in the Baja SAE design competition in Gray Court, South Carolina, October 2-5. This is the 50th year for Baja SAE and the SOLIDWORKS EDU team will be there to celebrate and cheer. Baja SAE returns to where it all started in South Carolina, in 1976, with University of South Carolina’s, Dr. John Stephens. Professor Stephens’ vision was to provide opportunities for students to learn hands-on applications in stress analysis theory and solve real-world industry challenges including tight budgets and manufacturability concerns. Dr. Harit Mehta, managed the initial event (MiniBaja) with just 10 teams. Baja SAE was born and is part of the SAE Collegiate Design Series through SAE International.
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Baja SAE challenges students to design and build off-road vehicles that will survive severe punishment on rough terrain through a series of dynamic and static events along with team collaboration and problem-solving skills under pressure.
For over 20 years, SOLIDWORKS has been supporting Baja SAE students with our SOLIDWORKS Student Team Sponsorship program, providing design, simulation (FEA), drawing and visualization software for free.
To truly feel the event and understand what these students go through, Greg Carloss, MotorWeek interviewed Damon Andring, SAE, and teams members at Baja SAE Maryland 2025.
We have received thousands of thank you’s from SAE, other sponsors, parents, alum, students and their advisors. Keep those letters, postcards, newsletters, photos and videos coming to share on our Facebook and Instagram.
From Gray Court, South Carolina, SOLIDWORKS EDU will be there to celebrate 50 years with you and yes, we have SOLIDWORKS cable ties!
Design well, Marie