Support the Baja Team!
After redesigning critical parts of our car after to last fall’s competition, Baja is eager to start fabricating our off-road race car, and we need your support to make it happen!
About Baja
Baja is a student-run project team at the Olin College of Engineering that designs, fabricates, and races an off-road racing vehicle. From concept and design to competition, our students take ownership of everything - from the car’s chassis to its drivetrain, electrical monitoring systems, and sensors. Olin’s Baja team provides students with opportunities to engage in hands-on engineering challenges that go beyond the classroom. Competing in the Society of Automotive Engineers’ intercollegiate Baja competition, students gain experience that combines their technical skills with communication, leadership, and project management abilities that top employers seek in their candidates. Since the team is completely student-run, every member has the chance to step into leadership, take responsibility, and grow as engineers and professionals.
Olin’s Baja is broadly divided into four subteams: chassis, drivetrain, suspension, and electrical, each of which is an interdisciplinary group working on different subsystems of the car. This structure mirrors professional engineering organizations, giving students not only the technical depth of their chosen subteam but also the flexibility to explore other areas and discover their passions.
At its heart, Olin Baja is more than just building a car, but building a community. Through late nights in the shop, problem-solving under pressure, and celebrating small wins together, our team forges the kind of collaboration and camaraderie that lasts long after graduating, and every year we bring that spirit to the competition track to race forward together.
Our Financial Goals
The fabrication phase is where the magic happens—when our team turns raw materials into a race-ready car. From welding the chassis to fabricating the gearbox, from fine-tuning the suspension to integrating the drivetrain, every sub-team needs resources in hand to maximize the time we have before competition.
Building a Baja car requires significant investment:
- $10,000 for chassis tubes and welding materials
- $8,000+ for suspension components
- $5,000 for engine and drivetrain systems
- $2,000 for hardware and essentials
That’s over $25,000 just to build the car - and that doesn’t even include competition. Attending competition costs $12,000+, and with a team now at over 70 members, registration, transportation, and logistics costs continue to grow!
We’ve worked hard to bring in support from corporate sponsors, but there are only so many sponsorships we can secure. This fundraiser is our final push to close the gap and make this season possible.
Our fundraising goal is $20,000. Every dollar raised here goes directly to getting our car built, transported, and ready to race.
Whether you’re an alum who remembers the thrill of competition, or a family member or friend cheering on the team today, your support helps ensure we not only build a car - we build a community that lasts and thrives.
Baja just returned from a competition in Holly, Michigan this past September!
Olin Baja returned to competition this past September in Holly, Michigan—our first event in over two years. For nearly the entire team, it was their very first time experiencing competition, and they rose to the challenge. We successfully passed all of the rigorous technical inspections, which earned us a spot in the grand finale endurance race—the first time Olin Baja had competed in endurance since before the pandemic, and the debut of our first-ever 4-wheel drive car. It took late nights, problem-solving under pressure, and extraordinary teamwork, but the reward was immense: the team proved to themselves, to Olin, and to the Baja community that we are back, stronger than ever
With your support, we'll be able to turn the team's hard work designing into a real car ready for competition.