LI students compete in off-road contest

A team of Farmingdale State College students competed in an engineering and design contest, the Baja SAE, earlier this summer in which they built and raced an off-road vehicle through rough terrain. The team finished 89th.

The contest is modeled on Mexico’s Baja 1000 off-road race and sponsored by the Society of Automative Engineers.

“The goal was not just in making a better Mini-Baja vehicle but also to have senior students offer their help to underclassmen in various subjects,” said Jeff Hung, assistant professor of mechanical engineering technology, in a written statement. “The students learned what it takes to work under immense pressure and, as a result, became stronger as a team.”

Hung and Ken Tax, network administrator for the school of engineering technology, headed a Farmingdale team of 15 students from various disciplines.

One-hundred-fifteen teams from around the world competed in the race, held earlier this summer in Illinois.