MH
Mark Harrison
  • Engineering
  • Class of 2013
  • Brevard, NC

Mark "Hawk" Harrison of LETU's Baja Team Wins Fifth Place Overall in SAE Competition

2013 May 9

LeTourneau University student Mark "Hawk" Harrison, a senior Mechanical Engineering major from Brevard, N.C., was a member of LeTourneau University's Baja Team that recently placed fifth overall among 100 teams in the national Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 2013 Baja Team competition in Cookeville, Tenn.

Harrison is one of 16 team members who competed with their "Renegade Racing" baja car.

"Had it not been for a chain sprocket failure during the endurance competition, they would have taken first place over Cornell University by over 20 points," said the LETU Baja Team faculty sponsor Richard Baney.

Besides the fifth place overall finish, LETU students won third place in overall dynamics, fifth place in acceleration, fifth place in suspension/traction, seventh place in maneuverability and eighth place in design. They placed 15th in endurance and 17th in cost.

The competition requires the students to design, build and test a one-seat off-road vehicle with a set of limitations. The event tests the cars in acceleration, maneuverability, hill climb and suspension, before being put on an endurance course.

"Last semester, the students designed this car from the ground up," Baney said. "Then in the spring semester, these same students built their car from those designs. What they took to competition was a completely new car. I'm proud of their achievement."

LeTourneau University is an interdenominational Christ-centered university located in Longview, Texas, that also offers undergraduate and graduate programs online and at education centers around the state. Academic majors include aviation, business, communication, computer science, criminal justice, education, engineering, health care administration, health science-nursing, human services, kinesiology, the liberal arts, the sciences and psychology.

Claiming every workplace in every nation as their mission field, LeTourneau University graduates are professionals of ingenuity and Christ-like character who see life's work as a holy calling with eternal impact.