About Us

A Fun and Dynamic Learning Experience

The University at Buffalo (UB) Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is an on-campus club, which gives students the opportunity to apply theories and concepts from the classroom in a real-world application of motorsport. We at UB SAE are comprised of various engineering disciplines but also welcome any other majors to join our club because of the broad challenges motorsport presents. The UB SAE is part of the greater SAE International organization which is a professional society with a focus on the entire transportation industry including the education of upcoming engineers interested in working in the transportation industry. As a result, SAE International sets forth several collegiate design competitions to provide a real-world application of class theory. The UB SAE club participates in two of these competitions, the Baja SAE Series and the Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC).

The Baja SAE Series challenges students at colleges/universities around the world to design and manufacture a single-seater, off-road vehicle while complying with an engine restriction and safety requirements. The vehicles and teams are then challenged over a weekend event which includes a design presentation to judges from industry, maneuverability and performance courses along with a 4-hour endurance race. These events are held internationally in India, Brazil, and the U.S.A. The UB Baja team has remained extremely competitive in this challenge for the last decade. Most recently the team took an overall placement of 19th/100 at the 2018 Oregon event.

The Clean Snowmobile Challenge provides the task of developing a stock snowmobile to run as clean, efficient, and quite as possible while also remaining within safety restrictions. The vehicle and team are then challenged to compete in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan every year against other college’s teams and vehicles for a week. The CSC consists of events such as a design presentation, emissions test, noise check, handling event, and fuel economy/endurance race. The UB Clean Snowmobile team has been revolutionary at this competition, having been the first ever to put a 4-stroke engine in a snowmobile and are the pioneers of the diesel sled. In the 2019 Clean Snowmobile Challenge, we are proud to say our diesel snowmobile placed 1st in fuel economy and 3rd in emmissions.