While many students went home after finals, the first week of winter break was Build Week for Cal Poly Racing, when team members spent all day, every day working on the racing cars they will use in upcoming competitions.
More than 100 students are involved with Cal Poly Racing, which designs and manufactures three cars – a Formula SAE, Formula SAE electric and a Baja SAE car – that they take to competitions around the country.
As all Cal Poly team members look toward future competitions, the Baja team is preparing to honor its 50th anniversary, having formed in 1972 with two 1968 Ford Galaxie taxis donated by the Yellow Cab Company of Los Angeles. The members of that team, who credit Baja racing for having a meaningful influence on their engineering careers, are currently working to organize a 50-year reunion on campus this spring.
While members of the 1972 team expect to interact with current members in March, this week was especially busy for Cal Poly Racing. Each day members could be seen applying their Learn by Doing skills at the hangar, where Cal Poly Racing is based.
Each team has multiple subsystems, allowing for specialization with brakes, chassis, composites, electronics and more.
