As Project Manager of the Olin Baja SAE team, I lead one of Olin's largest and most ambitious engineering projects — a team of more than eighty students working together to design, build, and race a high-performance off-road vehicle. The role combines engineering, leadership, organization, and culture building into one of the most rewarding challenges I've ever taken on.
The Olin Baja SAE team at competition
My journey with Olin Baja began on the Suspension sub-team, where I worked on the design of the wheel hubs. That early experience taught me the fundamentals of mechanical design and team collaboration. I quickly became fascinated with the bigger picture of how all the systems of the car fit together, and soon transitioned to the Drivetrain sub-team.
During my freshman year, I earned my first leadership role as Drivetrain Lead. It was my first time managing an engineering team, and while I had experience leading people before, leading engineers brought new challenges — balancing design priorities, reviewing CAD models, managing deadlines, and ensuring everyone's ideas were heard.
Led the complete conversion from prop drive to chain drive — a massive change that improved reliability, simplified maintenance, and significantly increased competitiveness.
Midway through my first year, the team's previous Project Manager stepped down, and I was given the opportunity to take on the role. Overnight, my scope of responsibility expanded from one subsystem to the entire operation. My first priority was to rebuild the organizational foundation from the ground up.
Individual meetings conducted
Team members at peak
Sensors integrated
Team size growth
Migrated from Discord to Microsoft Teams for centralized communication, data, and project documentation. Introduced Microsoft Planner as our main project management tool, giving every sub-team transparency into deadlines and deliverables.
Completely reimagined scheduling from individual part deadlines to sub-assembly milestones. This kept the team focused on collective progress rather than isolated tasks, drastically improving both efficiency and morale.
Created 15-20 unique orientation projects across all sub-teams. New members now arrive with immediate, meaningful work — from CAD design tasks to small manufacturing builds — with mentorship from upperclassmen.
Emphasized mentorship, collaboration, and shared wins. Organized team-wide events including the "Bajarbeque" celebration. Created space for informal brainstorming and encouraged sub-team leads to take ownership.
Focused on increasing diversity by bringing more women into leadership and engineering roles. Created an inclusive environment where every student feels like they belong and ideas flow freely.
Evolved Olin Baja into a data-driven engineering team. Built a complete on-board computer system with over 20 sensors measuring suspension loads, drivetrain torque, steering input, and more — providing real-time analytics for evidence-based improvements.
Instead of a standard classroom meeting, we held our kickoff event outdoors with food, music, and a full car showcase. The result was incredible: around 85 members — more than double the size from the previous year. But this growth wasn't just in numbers; it was in engagement.
For the first time, fabrication and design ran in parallel, with sub-teams responsible for their own sub-assemblies and deadlines. The electrical team built a complete on-board computer system integrated with over 20 sensors.
One of the most rewarding parts of this journey has been reconnecting with our alumni network. Many of our alumni are now professional engineers, and they've returned to offer feedback, mentorship, and technical insight. The design reviews with alumni have become one of the most valuable learning experiences for the team.
"Leading an engineering team is as much about empathy as it is about technical skill. It's about creating clarity, maintaining direction, and making people feel valued."
Empower rather than dictate, ensuring every person feels ownership in the team's success.
Create environments where good answers can emerge through collaboration and trust.
Just like our car, our organization is always evolving. Every meeting and event is an opportunity to learn and improve.
Create structures and culture that will thrive long after current leadership transitions.
Olin Baja is on track to become one of the most competitive and innovative collegiate engineering teams in the country. We're continuing to push toward more data integration, smarter testing, and more inclusive participation. But beyond competition, what excites me most is that we've built something sustainable — a team structure, a culture, and a workflow that will continue to thrive long after my time as Project Manager.
We've proven that with the right mix of structure, vision, and heart, you can take a group of students and turn them into something greater: a high-performing, tight-knit engineering organization that not only builds cars but also builds people.