Meet Team Chippewa Performance

A group of students standing around one of the Baja cars in a parking lotBaja SAE is a collegiate design series organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers that challenges students to engineer, fabricate, and race developmental single passenger off-road vehicles. The Baja SAE Team is a real-world manufacturing project that teaches students not only skills in the realm of engineering and technology, but business skills such as logistics and marketing as well.

Each team's goal is to design and build a single-seat, all-terrain, sporting vehicle. Along with the build process, each team must make their vehicle reliable, serviceable, ergonomic, and economical to produce. This vehicle should be able to be produced at a size of approximately 4,000 units per year. The vehicle should aspire to market-leading performance in terms of speed, handling, ride, and ruggedness over various off-road conditions while maintaining a great value. Each vehicle is judged upon these attributes by industry professionals along with a series of dynamic races designed to push the limits of the vehicle.

A group of students standing with 2 CMU Baja cars in front of the CMU Arch.Not only does Chippewa Performance provide students with a thrilling pass-time, but we also build students into industry-ready professionals. The team teaches students to be well-rounded, professional, and sharpens problem solving skills. Most importantly, we can proudly say we have a 100% post-graduation employment rate among active members!”

Meet the team

    • President, Chassis and Ergo Lead: Nick Agro
    • Vice President, Steering Lead: Gavin Kelly
    • Business and Logistics Lead: Jayden Burkhart
    • Public Relations: Connor Nowosatka
    • Suspension Leads: Gavin Kelly and Blake Howard
    • Brake Lead: Tyler Dewitt
    • Drivetrain Lead: Tyler Cook
    • Faculty Advisor: Ben Ritter

    • Nick Agro - Senior, MechanicalEngineering
    • Jayden Burkhart - Senior, Mechanical Engineering
    • Blake Howard - Senior, MechanicalEngineering
    • Connor Nowosatka - Senior, Mechanical Engineering
    • Wallace Timmer - Senior, Electrical Engineering
    • Tyler Cook - Junior, InteriorDesign
    • Ethan Grentz - Junior, Electrical Engineering
    • Gavin Kelly - Junior, Mechanical Engineering
    • Tyler Dewitt - Sophomore, Mechanical Engineering
    • Reese McLean - Freshmen, Mechanical Engineering
    • Brady Tomlinson - Freshmen, Electrical Engineering

    Join Baja

    Baja SAE is open to all majors and class standings. To join, simply come to our meetings at 7pm on Monday and Wednesday nights in ET 139! If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at: saeminibaja@gmail.com.