2/4/04

AUBURN LADY TIGERS MINI BAJA TEAM WINS SAE GRANT

AUBURN -- The Auburn University Lady Tigers Mini Baja team has won the Mini Baja Challenge for Women Team Leaders Grant from the Women Engineers Committee of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

The $1,000 award -- the team's second in four years -- will assist with completion of the squad's vehicle and travel to and from Mini Baja events.

The grant program was founded to encourage women to participate in Mini Baja competitions, all-terrain vehicle off-road events that include tests of speed, power, suspension, endurance, land and water maneuverability and rock crawling.

SAE Mini Baja collegiate design teams with women leaders and predominantly women teams must submit a project proposal and register in SAE Mini Baja competition.

"The team regards the challenge as a matter of pride and developed a great project plan," says Peter Jones, team advisor and member of the mechanical engineering faculty. "I'm pleased that the Women Engineers Committee agreed. The grant will help the team achieve a higher level of success."

Qualified teams submit a project proposal detailing preliminary design, project organization, schedule, budget, fund-raising and team building plans. In addition, team members submit essays on the project's impact on women's leadership in engineering. About 18 teams qualified for the grant.

"This award recognizes the hard work our team has done," says Brittany Consuegra of Selma, a mechanical engineer senior who is chief engineer, co-captain and driver. "It has also given the team incentive to work even harder and further prove itself as competitive."

The Auburn Lady Tigers Mini Baja was founded in 1998 as only the second all-female Mini Baja team in the nation. In the 2003 performances, the team placed eighth in design report and 39th overall out of a field of 143 at the Mini Baja Midwest competition near Dayton, Ohio, and 20th overall out of 49 teams at Mini Baja East in Orlando, Fla.

This year, competition will take the team to Montreal for Mayšs Mini Baja East and Milwaukee, Wis., in June for Mini Baja Midwest.

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feb04:AU-baja