SMT support Chico State Racing team with an annual sponsorship of MASTA for 4th year running

SMT are pleased to announce the support of MASTA for the Chico State Racing Team for the 2019-2020 academic year. The competition provides SAE student members from around the world with a challenging project that involves design, planning and manufacturing tasks, in order to build an off-road vehicle that would survive severe punishment of rough terrain. SMT’s CAE software; MASTA, allowed the team to enhance design, analysis and manufacturing processes for the gearbox that would face the challenges of the road ahead.

With the continuation of MASTA as the leading gearbox optimisation tool, now in its 4th year running of sponsorship, Bobby Kaufman; Wildcat Racing Drivetrain Lead,  comments on the effectiveness of MASTA as “another tool on the belt to catch the eye of multiple companies and help us stand out from other applicants”.

COVID-19 had caused some changes this year, with all in-person competitions for Baja SAE cancelled, future plans to test the car to its full capabilities when the quarantine ends to provide further results for the quality of the build is on the radar.

Bobby Kaufman also mentions, “MASTA has still been a great help for the team! Earlier this year, it was decided to run larger tires compared to last year’s car. In order to keep our performance up, an entirely new gearbox needed to be designed. A new overall ratio will give us a top speed and acceleration close to last year’s car, with the added weight of a 4WD system SAE has tasked teams to design. With the help of MASTA, we were able to create a gearbox weighing only two tenths of a pound more than the 2018-2019 gearbox. Considering the added weight to the car, and the larger tires, we saw this weight difference as a valuable sacrifice to get the results we were looking for”.

“The program has been a great technical advantage for us. MASTA has given us the ability to not only design our gears and shafts but has allowed us to test them before production even starts. This has saved us years of iterative design, giving us stronger, lighter gears faster than before. All of this means that we can develop a gearbox with a design we know will get us through testing and competition on top of having the performance we desire. Commercially the software is also a big help. When applying for jobs or internships, it’s huge to have as much experience as possible in order to be recognized by the employer”.

With continual improvements to functionality to MASTA, SMT are looking forward to the results of the competition and the upcoming year that will undoubtedly allow time for further refinement of designs, with potential for the new 4WD category.