Our Team

About Our Team

Cornell Baja SAE Racing is an engineering project team that annually designs, builds, and races an All-Terrain Vehicle to compete in the SAE Collegiate Baja Design Series every year. Founded in 2003 by a group of mechanical engineers who wanted to bring their acquired engineering skills to the race track, Cornell Baja SAE Racing has grown to encourage and support hands-on engineering and project-based learning for over 50 students from a diverse collection of majors. Comprising six subteams, students from all majors and schools of Cornell work together to ensure that team operations run smoothly, whether constructing the car, reaching out to sponsors, or racing during competition. Competing across the country, we value each one of our team members, as none of our success would be possible without each member’s hard work as a cohesive unit.

6

subteams

13

different majors

50

percent women

58

members

6

subteams

13

different majors

50

percent women

52

members

Team Leads

Will Gant

Mechanical Engineering '24

Kesekoseah Mauro

Mechanical Engineering '24

Nils Coffey

Mechanical Engineering '24

Drivetrain Subteam

The drivetrain subteam designs and manufactures the vehicle's custom continuously variable transmission (CVT), gearbox, driveshafts, and wheel hubs. Component design is driven by extensive structural and thermal analysis that is validated with an engine dynamometer and on-car telemetry systems. With all vehicles in the competition limited to a 10 HP engine, a focus is placed on designing for reliability and power efficiency.

Nina Hunt

Mechanical Engineering '25

Chris Boodram

Mechanical Engineering '24

Will Chen

Mechanical Engineering '25

Jin Bae

Mechanical Engineering '25

Natalie Dowd

Mechanical Engineering '25

Emma Pellecer

Mechanical Engineering '25

Akshay Undevia

Mechanical Engineering '25

Raj Singh

Mechanical Engineering '26

Zoe Szymanski

Mechanical Engineering '26

Ben Choe

ECE '26

Carlota Champalimaud

Mechanical Engineering '26

Julia Deffner

Mechanical Engineering '26

Suspension Subteam

The suspension subteam is responsible for defining and achieving the desired handling characteristics of the car. The suspension constraints in a Baja car are unique to off-roading in that it must be able to tackle uneven rocks, logs, jumps, and hairpin turns. Through the design and manufacturing of custom linkages, ball joints and steering racks, as well as custom tuning of the springs and dampers, the suspension subteam is able to ensure that the vehicle maneuvers as needed with minimal driver effort.

Karolina Swedek

Mechanical Engineering '25

Philip Ackerman

Mechanical Engineering '24

Arnav Tapadia

Physics '24

Keren Gross

Mechanical Engineering '25

Chloe Kaufman

Mechanical Engineering '25

Silas Wilson

Mechanical Engineering '25

Alex Hallstrom

Mechanical Engineering '25

Horatio Cordero

Mechanical Engineering '26

Joey Nadol

Mechanical Engineering '26

Lukas Minutello

Mechanical Engineering '26

Frame Subteam

The frame subteam is tasked with designing and manufacturing the roll cage and main structure of the Baja car, creating a safe, protective barrier between our driver and the harsh obstacles of the course. The frame must attach all of the other components of the car through a solid foundation.

Casey Savage

Mechanical Engineering '25

Charlie Cohen

Mechanical Engineering '26

Sara Pagliuco

Engineering '26

Brakes Subteam

The brakes subteam designs and manufactures custom master cylinders, rotors, and calipers. Design constraints are determined through on-car testing and a custom dynamometer, which are used to create a reliable, effective, and easy to maintain system.

Domi Swedek

Mechanical Engineering '25

Edwin Dake

ECE '25

Andrew Mills

Mechanical Engineering '25

Ergonomics Subteam

The composites and ergonomics subteam designs and builds the seat, steering wheel and body panels, with a focus on human centered design and materials testing.

Charlotte Pendock

Mechanical Engineering '25

Sharyn Schweitzer

Human Development '25

Valerie Wong

Information Science '26

Max Owens

Mechanical Engineering '26

Ella Yellin

Mechanical Engineering '26

Business Subteam

The business subteam acts as the liaison between the team and the Cornell community. We are responsible for recruiting new team members at the beginning of each semester, compiling a cost report for the competition, conducting purchases for the team, contacting alumni, corporations, and members of the community for sponsorships, designing and distributing public relations material, planning team travel, designing apparel, and maintaining the team website.

James Sy

Computer Science '25

Darius McCullough

Mechanical Engineering '24

Victoria Baker

Computer Science & Government '25

Sanya Kohli

ORIE '26

Margaret Gates

Mechanical Engineering '26

New Members

We highly value all of our new members, and want them to have the best experience possible when becoming acclimated to the team. In their first semester, freshmen members are not on specific subteams. Rather, they are given a project to work on throughout the year. These projects aren't busy work - they are instrumental to our team's performance. They teach our new members valuable skills so that their second semester they can join one of our subteams. Will you join us as we race to the top?

Damayanti Chakraborty

Mechanical Engineering '27

Andrew Lay

ORIE '27

Ryan Xie

Mechanical Engineering '27

Christina Boehm

Chemical Engineering '27

Aaron Chin

Mechanical Engineering '27

Ava Rosenow

Mechanical Engineering '27

Everett Chambala

ILR '27

Owen LaPierre

Environment & Sustainability '27

Hugo Mazzali

Mechanical Engineering '27

Dan O'Malley

Mechanical Engineering '27

Rachel Landa

Mechanical Engineering '27

Bella Pensabene

Mechanical Engineering '27

Sean Dempsey

Mechanical Engineering '27

Onboarding Director

Artemiy, the Onboarding Director, oversees knowledge transfer and ensures everyone on the team is learning as well as having their voices heard.

Artemiy Naumenkov

Mechanical Engineering '24