The mission of the SUNY New Paltz BAJA SAE team is to provide a hands-on real-life engineering opportunity. This will allow students to gain practical engineering experience in a fun academic environment. This experience will support and extend the knowledge gained in the classroom. With this knowledge and experience, our members will be able to enter the workforce with a much more advanced and practical approach to engineering problems.
President Zack Torigian
Growing up in a family of automotive racing and car enthusiast, I learned to fabricate and weld at an early age and became familiar with the practical side of engineering. I have worked as a professional fabricator at Daily Driven Autosports for over 5 years. I am currently in my fourth year of engineering, and I am invested in teaching hands-on machining and fabricating as well as leading the team to construct New Paltz’s first ever BAJA vehicle.
Vice President Kevin Harjes
I am a Mechanical Engineering student at SUNY New Paltz graduating in Spring 2020. As well as holding the Vice President title for SAE Baja, I am also a member of the school’s lacrosse team. I have an extensive mechanic background as I have owned a number of Jeeps and ATVs that I have restored. I currently drive a self-restored Chevrolet truck and hope to teach others about repair and fabrication throughout the rest of my time here at New Paltz.
Public Relations
Rachel Eisgruber
Hey! I am a Mechanical engineering major, Digital design and fabrication minor, born and raised in the New Paltz area! I bring the experience of knowing two different 3D modeling software programs and 3D printing capabilities to the team. All of us here at New Paltz Baja would love for you to keep up with our events and progress by following us on our Facebook and Instagram pages! https://www.facebook.com/pg/npbaja/about/ https://www.instagram.com/np_bajasae/?hl=en
Secretary Tabatha Felter
I am a transfer student working through my junior year in electrical engineering at SUNY New Paltz. I have over a year’s experience with SolidWorks and machining, and two years of experience working on a student-run project team, the last semester of which I spent as a subsystem manager. When I’m not busy with school, work, or Baja, you can probably find me climbing at the gym, driving unfamiliar roads without GPS, or tinkering with electronics.
