Fans of off-road racing and engineering have found a new calling in Northwestern Baja. Known as the Motorcats, the group designs, builds and races cars, competing with other universities nationwide.
The origins of NU Baja date back to 1988, McCormick senior and project manager Jared Bubser said. After originally fizzling out, the club was revived just 10 years ago, which has made success much harder for the Motorcats.
“One of the biggest challenges with engineering clubs is that transfer of knowledge,” Bubser said.
Despite the lull, the Motorcats have achieved some notable achievements in the past four years. In 2021, their car Dory placed sixth in endurance and eighth overall at Baja SAE Louisville. Their 2023 car Gnubs placed eighth in endurance at a competition in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Baja’s season begins in the summer. At the beginning of each season, a new executive board decides on any changes or improvements for the year’s car and creates overarching designs.
During Fall Quarter, the club focuses on the design of specific parts of the car, such as gearboxes, suspension arms and the steering wheel, as well as training new members.
New members are referred to as “Kittens” and go through an extensive training program that teaches them the skills required for the car’s design and production.
“We don’t expect you to come in with anything … We give you everything you need to know,” Bubser said.
The learning doesn’t stop when the Kittens graduate. Members pick up a variety of skills from the work they put in to get the cars fully functional.
NU Baja teaches its members design software like SOLIDWORKS and how to use different machines in the Ford Center.
McCormick junior Nicole Hahn, this year’s powertrain lead, identified designing for assembly and service as some of the most valuable skills she has learned from Baja.
“You get a ton of manufacturing experience, and also design and design for manufacturing,” Hahn said.
The training process has been a particular struggle this year, as NU Baja currently has 96 members — a large increase from previous years.
“We’ve had to assign 57 projects to new members, in addition to the 20 to 30 returning members,” Hahn said.
High membership isn’t the only challenge that NU Baja faces this year. The team is trying a lot of new components on their car that they haven’t attempted before, including an electronic continuously variable transmission that Hahn’s team is producing.
Alongside the technical challenges, there is the ever-present struggle of finances. McCormick sophomore Alvin Huang manages a $50,000 budget as one of the club’s treasurers. This budget covers travel and supplies for the cars, along with any other necessary expenses.
Due to the high cost of these items, NU Baja spends “a lot more money than most other clubs at Northwestern,” according to Huang.
Despite these challenges, the Motorcats are planning to tackle another year of competition, with their next competition in January at the 44th Winter Baja in Michigan.
Their final competition for the year will be in May in Arizona.
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