This is the last post I'll be making for my Baja internship. It's been a fun ride, and I've learned a lot of practical skills along the way (and I hope I helped out some too). To everyone who has helped in my journey, either by showing me how to use the machines or introducing me to the many crooks of the shop, I thank you for taking the time out of your day to bring me up to speed. This was a unique internship and and feel glad that I was here to experience it. Everyone on the team seems dedicated, hard-working, and bright, and I know that these attributes will bring success at competition this June. Honestly, I couldn't imagine a better group of characters to lead this team, and I hope everyone sticks around next year to help the next batch of interns.
As to what I've been up to these past weeks, three weeks ago I missed a week of Baja to go and visit colleges out of state. Since the original agreement was that I'd stick around for 10 weeks total, I decided to continue interning for Baja for eleven weeks instead of the standard ten. On the Tuesday I got back, I helped make a new skid plate for the car. On Thursday, the team was attending a SAE event in Phoenix, and I came to watch them present. That day, I helped load the car into the trailer, and strap down the poster boards so that they wouldn't move about when the vehicle was in motion. After all this, we weren't allowed to bring the car inside the hotel because of the fire code, but still, many people came outside to look at the car. Teams of Formula, EcoCar, and Baja from five different universities gave presentations, and the event was catered. Here are some pictures I took of the event:
(From left to right: Coleman, chief engineer; Nick, team manager; Jeshua, e-CVT; Brad, powertrain)
The next week, I came in and worked as usual. Tuesday, I helped screw in the new skid plate (that I helped make) and wire the emergency stop buttons to the engine. Thursday, I helped align the wheels, do suspension inventory, and clean the shop. Then I went to the weekly meeting for Baja and heard about the plans to go to competition this June in Illinois and Kansas. It's too bad that I worked be able to see the car up and running at competition, but at least I can say that at least one part I designed will be on the final car, and in addition my fingerprints will be on many others. I wish the team the best of luck in competition and know I will remember the spring of 2017 for a long time.
Goodbye and good luck,
Max
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