Competition · Vehicle Design · Leadership

BAJA SAE Off-Road Vehicle

Leading Team Markhor through the design, manufacturing, testing and international competition of a single-seat off-road vehicle.

PROJECT 06 / 06 CHASSIS · SUSPENSION · POWERTRAIN
Period2019–2022
TeamTeam Markhor · NUST
My RoleCaptain & Chief Engineer
Scale60 team members
01Project overview

A vehicle project where engineering decisions meet mud, deadlines and people.

BAJA SAE asks a student team to operate like a small vehicle company: define a product, justify its engineering and business case, manufacture it, test it and perform under competition scrutiny.

ENG

Technical challenge

Balance structural strength, suspension behaviour, powertrain performance, mass, manufacturability and serviceability.

OPS

Team challenge

Coordinate 60 people across subteams, facilities, procurement, documentation, assembly, testing and competition logistics.

02My Contribution

Technical direction and team leadership through the complete build.

01

Engineering Leadership

Led a 60-member multidisciplinary organisation as Team Captain and Chief Engineer, connecting subsystem work to vehicle-level priorities.

02

Vehicle-System Coordination

Coordinated chassis, suspension and powertrain development, including CAD and MATLAB/Simulink performance work.

03

Engineering Definition

Produced and reviewed manufacturing drawings with GD&T so design intent survived the transition to the workshop.

04

Fabrication & Assembly

Supported hands-on production using CNC milling, turning, laser cutting and welding through final assembly.

03Development process

Run the technical programme and the team programme together.

Architect

Set vehicle targets and divide responsibility across chassis, suspension, powertrain and operations.

Design & review

Use CAD, calculations, simulation and cross-subteam reviews to mature interfaces.

Build & resolve

Manufacture parts, manage fit-up issues and keep drawings aligned with practical changes.

Test & compete

Validate vehicle behaviour, prepare presentations and execute at national and international events.

Leadership principleThe captain’s job was not to make every design decision. It was to make interfaces visible, maintain a shared vehicle-level objective and help subteams reach decisions in time to build.
04Team & contributors

Sixty contributors organised around one vehicle.

Captain & Chief Engineer

Aqib Habib

Programme leadership, subsystem coordination, engineering definition, manufacturing and competition execution.

Vehicle engineering

Chassis · Suspension · Powertrain

Subsystem design, calculations, CAD, simulation, drawings, component selection and validation.

Build & operations

Manufacturing · Logistics · Business

Fabrication, procurement, assembly, testing, sponsorship, presentations and event operations.

Institution

Team Markhor · NUST

The multidisciplinary student organisation that designed, built and represented the vehicle.

05Results

A functioning vehicle, an international result and a stronger team.

Team Markhor achieved fourth place in the BAJA SAE Arizona Global Sales Presentation and second place overall at the National Piston Cup Challenge. The programme also created repeatable design, documentation and manufacturing experience across a large student team.

4th
BAJA SAE Arizona Global Sales Presentation
2nd
National Piston Cup Challenge overall
60
Multidisciplinary team members led