Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing

Society of Automotive Engineers

SAE LogoWhile the Department does not have a student chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), a number of students join the national society and enter the national Baja SAE Competition and the national Formula SAE Competition.

What is SAE? 

What do cars, aircraft, trucks, off-highway equipment, engines, materials, manufacturing, and fuels have in common? SAE. The Society of Automotive Engineers is a one-stop resource for technical information and expertise used in designing, building, maintaining, and operating self-propelled vehicles for use on land or sea, in air or space. More than 83,000 engineers, business executives, educators, and students from more than 97 countries belong to SAE and share information and exchange ideas for advancing the engineering of mobility systems.

National SAE website(opens in new window)

Baja SAE Competition

Baja SAE is a competition that is sponsored by SAE in which students design and build an off-road vehicle using a Briggs & Stratton 10 hp OHV Intek Engine. Our team competes against teams from schools all over the world in five events: hill climb, top speed, maneuverability, presentation and documentation, and 100 mile endurance race. Students working on this project will learn teamwork and gain experience in engineering design, manufacturing, business, and marketing, Most importantly students will have fun while getting hands on experience related to their major field of study. To learn more about the project contact one of the group's officers.

Baja race

Baja SAE  2023-2024 Officers

President: Samaher Shaheen
soshaheen@csuchico.edu 

Vice President: Roman Padilla
repadilla@csuchico.edu  

Treasurer:  Treyton Wood
trwood@csuchico.edu 

Public Relations: Ashley Ballantyne
aeballantyne@csuchico.edu   

Faculty Adviser: Professor O'Connor
Dmoconnor@csuchico.edu

chicosaebaja@gmail.com

Formula SAE Competition

Formula SAE is an international collegiate design competition started in 1979, originally know as Mini Indy.  The main objective of the Formula SAE competition is to provide students with an outlet to apply engineering principles they’ve learned in the classroom to real work experiences.  For the competition, a student team must design, build and test a Formula-style racecar which will be required to withstand events including acceleration, braking, skid pad, autocross and endurance.  

Along with the working prototype, the team must also submit a comprehensive design report of the vehicle to be evaluated for its potential as a viable production item.  Originally, the Formula SAE competition started out small but has now become one of the largest student engineering competitions in the world.  In 2011, 121 teams from 12 countries competed at the Detroit, Michigan event.

Formula Team from 2016

Formula SAE 2023-2024 Officers

President: Cedric McKinney
cmckinney@csuchico.edu  

Vice President: David Kerr
dwkerr@csuchico.edu  

Treasurer: Lucas Butler
lrbutler@csuchico.edu  

Faculty Adviser: Professor Koehler
HKoehler@csuchico.edu

Mechanical Parts