CONFINDENTIAL

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School

Toronto Metropolitan University *

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Course

BAJA

Subject

Mechanical Engineering

Date

Jan 9, 2024

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pdf

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5

Uploaded by THEKNEEGROW

Report
Expulsion of Zakariya Jackson as Team Captain By:------------------ August 08, 2023 For: —------------------------------------------------
This report is made to state the reasons for the expulsion of Zakariya Jackson as team captain of Toronto Metropolitain Baja Racing. The allegations I will list are based on truth and financial documentation. Zakariya has been in executive positions on the team for two years and his decisions have resulted in huge financial loss and safety infractions. Zakariya became the powertrain lead in the year 2021/2022. He was responsible for powertrain development and overall powertrain placement in chassis. Zakariya bought roughly $3,300 CAD worth of Polaris components under a %50 discount sponsorship. Despite buying the Package basically ready to go, the components were incompatible with the SAE Kohler Command Pro® CH440 Engine due to the keyed shaft output. Also included with the package, the axles did not meet the length requirement to have a functional car. Zakariya has roughly wasted $3,300 on components which were absolutely useless to the team and was forced to put up for sale. No Items were sold due to the low demand. (Polaris sponsorship components )
Zakariya was also responsible for the placement of the powertrain in the chassis. The communication between the chassis lead and Zakariya is unknown, but speaking from looking at the result it is obvious that no attempt was made whatsoever. (2021/2022 Chassis with Powertrain) Keep in mind that there is no space for the fuel tank and other safety systems. Due to Zakariya’s negligence, the 2021/2022 chassis was rendered useless. This chassis has resulted in a total loss of roughly $3,700. And now with a chassis destined to fail tech inspections, the team could not attend competition which has an administrative fee of $2,141.23 CAD. All due to a failed powertrain system and chassis design. During the 2022/2023 season, Zakariya was selected to become the captain by the previous graduating captain. I myself joined the team during the early stages of the season in September. I was part of the powertrain and vehicle dynamics subteams. Throughout the early months, little to no progress was made within the team. No subteam had completed their tasks and literally no designing or planning had taken place. That is the time where I decided to take action.
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(Private Direct message with Zakariya ) Once Zakariya and I had some meetings, I took up the role of chassis lead. Being chassis lead, my responsibilities was to make mounting points for the powertrain system and for the overall safety of the driver. Once I took this position I realized that there were errors throughout all the entire design. None of the powertrain systems worked, and there were major safety issues with the previous design. Seeing these powertrain issues, I decided I wanted to take up the powertrain subteam so that the powertrain and chassis could be designed together. I worked on both systems, the chassis was ordered in late April and the powertrain was fully working and ready to be ordered in early July. But by the time I was done, no other major sub system was complete. Vehicle dynamics did not buy the required parts or even determined the proper suspension geometry for our car. I quickly tried to help VD complete their parts and lead their team, but it was too late had we had to give up. Zakariya was responsible for ensuring every subteam had completed their parts but failed to do so. Because of this, hundreds of hours worth of work by myself and my fellow team members were wasted. Zakariya lacks the knowledge to run a design team. How could one run the team without basic knowledge like what yield stress is? Or even how to use SOLIDWORKS? Due to our poor performance, we were given little to no budget, and I was met with aggression when I tried to optimize for cost and pick the cheaper option. Zakariya actively prevents collaboration between leads, he refuses to take executive decisions before something becomes a problem since he wants everyone to do their work by themselves. This has left massive communication gaps in our team and prevented us from excelling. The chassis for this year was welded by a lead who failed technical inspection. With AIR GAPS in the weld along with inconsistent penetration. The chassis weld would have failed technical inspection immediately and would be a safety hazard to be testing with. The lead in question received a signature from the faculty advisor but failed to provide all the required tests, keeping
in mind that the faculty advisor had no idea about the SAE’s safety requirements. This has rendered our $4,200 CAD chassis seriously damaged. (Welding tests and welds on the chassis by the welding lead) (Response from other BAJA teams on a common platform, discord) Why should we give Zakariya another chance to ruin the team? The 2023/2024 season will be his 3rd year as an exec position. With all the mechanical engineering lead quitting the team, it is destined to be a money pit for MUES and a shame for the engineering faculty. (All financial loss can be confirmed by MUES and FEAS)