YOUNGSTOWN — As Jared Bryarly, John Donges and Kyle DeBucci help design, build and prepare a specialized vehicle for a competitive race in a few months, they are slowing down to ensure each step is up to speed.

“You’re 12 months out before you see the benefits of the hours you’ll spend,” Bryarly, a Youngstown State University senior and mechanical engineering major, said, referring to the time he and other members of YSU’s Baja Club are taking to build and customize an off-road vehicle.

Donges and DeBucci also are mechanical engineering majors who are among the estimated 25 club members with all levels of experience contributing to the senior design project, which began last June. The vehicle will be used in a race competition this spring.

In May 2021, the Penguin Baja Racing Team competed with 80 national and international teams at a competition in Louisville, Ky. YSU finished 13th in the overall combined static and dynamic scores, topping the other six Ohio teams.

Last week, the off-road vehicle for this year’s competition was in the beginning stages, resembling little more than a series of symmetrical and connected metal bars, in an enclosed work area of Moser Hall known as “the cage.” That’s because months of preplanning, computer designs and fundraising have to precede the actual building phase, which usually takes three to four months, said Bryarly, who also is assisting with its design and manufacturing, as well as performing welding where needed.

Helping Bryarly perhaps most directly is Kathy Chuldzinski, the club’s treasurer, whose primary duties include lathe and machining work, he continued.

Bryarly added that his family owns a fabrication business, so he grew up around that industry.

“For last year’s model, we designed the gear boxes and CVT (continuously variable transmission),” said Donges, who, along with Ty Barzak and Emma Hunkus, make up the powertrain team for this year’s off-road vehicle.

A CVT, sometimes called a “shiftless transmission,” is an automatic transmission that can seamlessly change via a series of gear ratios. Unlike most automatic transmissions, it typically has two pulleys, one of which connects to the engine and the other to the wheels, with a chain or a flexible belt connecting the pulleys.

Each year, students working on the project draw from mistakes and successes of previous off-road model designs. This year’s four-wheel-drive will be assembled to be lighter and more cost-effective without sacrificing speed, Donges explained.

To that end, the students opted for more standard and readily available parts they can tweak for the purpose of the model, he added.

Donges recalled having learned to operate a forklift around age 5. In addition, his father, Craig Donges, was influential in the younger Donges’ decision to select his major, he said, adding that his father worked on maintenance vehicles and trucks at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, then built water-pumping windmills throughout much of the U.S.

“It’s very valuable to have that knowledge from my dad at home and be able to apply it here at school,” said Donges, who also recently opened Rust Belt Machinery in Berlin Center.

Handling much of the data analysis on the vehicle is Kyle DeBucci, a sophomore and mechanical engineering major.

“I also did the data analysis for last year’s car,” said DeBucci, whose work entails minimizing breakdowns, analyzing how quickly mishaps can be repaired and communicating with the design team regarding priorities before the race.

Fundraising throughout most of the process also is a core piece in the project’s overall completion. Much of the money sponsors donate is used to buy needed parts for the models, Bryarly noted.

Another benefit for the club is the variety of talents and experience the students bring to the fore. The upperclassmen work with those who are newer to the Baja Club, he added.

“Everybody brings something different to the table,” Bryarly said.

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