Pacific Senior Design Sand Car Project
Our design team us made up of four students, Zach Wiberg, Raffy Escalona, Vinh Hoang, and
Mike Baron. We are Seniors in the Mechanical Engineering Bachelor of Science Program at the University of the Pacific. As part of our curriculum we
are required to complete a senior design project.
For our senior project we have chosen to take an existing single seat sand car frame and modify it to
accommodate a 6-link independent rear suspension, drive components, and new
street bike engine. A sand car is a
recreational vehicle often used in off-road racing. Our purpose in completing this project is to
fulfill the course requirement of both designing and building our project using
the engineering skills we have obtained during our studies here at Pacific. Our design will improve the
sand car's performance, allowing for faster acceleration, greater top speed,
improved vehicle stability, increased ground clearance, improved ride, and reduced
weight. In addition, our design allows the suspension to be
adjusted based on the driver's style. As mechanical engineers, we are interested in the research
and manufacturing of automotive parts and their application. Through
this project we hope to become more familiar with and improve upon the parts used
in this vehicle. Ultimately our goal is to make a career of designing and manufacturing automotive parts.
At this stage we have completed the
conceptual design of our project and are ready to begin the building phase. After extensive research,
we have compiled a list of parts and materials necessary to complete the
project. Our preliminary estimate for
the cost of the project totals $7,000, which we need to raise as a team. We are looking for donations to sponsor our project and would like to ask you to contribute. In return, sponsors will be given recognition during the Senior Design Display Day, where members of the community judge the projects. In addition, the names of contributors and their business if applicable, will be placed on our project display board in a special thanks section and on this website in the updates section.
Thank you for your interest and
consideration in supporting our project. We appreciate the opportunity to complete the project and learn from the experience. If you have any questions regarding the project and/or would like to see our budget, design, etc. please feel free to contact our team at [email redacted]ific.edu.
