Beaver Racing

What Beaver Racing does

Beaver Racing (legally Oregon State University Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Baja Beaver Racing) is a collegiate engineering competition team operating within Oregon State University's College of Engineering since 2004. The team designs, manufactures, and races a single-passenger off-road vehicle for the SAE Baja collegiate competition series. The vehicle uses a standardized 14hp Kohler Command Pro CH440 engine with a modified restrictor plate, designed around a heavy rear weight bias for traction, long-travel independent front and rear suspension, and a limited-slip differential in a simple rugged mid-weight package. The 20+ member 2024 roster is organized into subsystem leads covering Drivetrain, Chassis, CVT, Suspension, Electrical, and Statics, led by a Team Captain (Caleb Sprengeler) and Co-Captain (Dexter Clifton), with work conducted out of Rogers Hall Room 132 and team meetings in Dearborn 118 on the OSU campus in Corvallis, Oregon.

The team is not a commercial entity and does not sell products or services. Its operating model is non-revenue: it funds operations through (1) individual donations routed via the Oregon State University Foundation under the "Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Fund" designation, with donors specifying "Baja" in the comments field, and (2) corporate sponsorships structured into five published tiers — Platinum ($10,000+), Gold ($5,000-$9,999), Silver ($1,000-$4,999), Bronze ($500-$999), and Friend ($100-$499) — that confer logo placement on vehicle panels and website links. The 2024 sponsor roster comprises 30+ companies including one Platinum (GEM Equipment of Oregon), a broad Gold tier (Hyster-Yale, Oregon Tool, ConMet, HP, Haas, Warn Automotive, AGMA, Stout Machine, Ram-Z Fab, EMJ Metals, Pacific Machinery & Tool Steel Co, Premier Gear & Machine Works, Alpha Wolf Decals, Water World Boat & Powersport), a Bronze tier, and a Friend tier. Student recruitment runs on a community-led motion with weekly Wednesday meetings, multi-day work sessions, and Google Forms sign-ups.

Competitive track record includes 30+ competitions since 2004 across California, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee, Arizona, Louisville, Illinois, Auburn, Maryland, Washington, Wisconsin, South Dakota, UTEP, and RIT. 2024 results: 7th overall at Baja SAE California (with 2nd place Business Presentation and 3rd place Endurance) and 8th overall at Baja SAE Michigan (with 2nd place Business Presentation). Prior highlights include 1st place overall at Oregon 2023 (1st Rock Crawl), 4th at Tennessee 2022, 6th at Arizona 2022, and the Mike Schmidt Memorial Iron Team Award (1st in 2012, 3rd in 2015).

Name

Beaver Racing

Legal name

Oregon State University Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Baja Beaver Racing

Website

https://beaverracing.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Beaver Racing is Oregon State University's SAE Baja collegiate engineering team that designs, builds, and races single-passenger off-road vehicles for SAE Baja competitions, funded by OSU Foundation donations and 30+ corporate sponsors and serving OSU engineering students.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collegiate Engineering Competition (Baja SAE)

NAICS

Sports Teams and Clubs (711211)

SIC

Services-Racing, Including Track Operation (7948)

akta.pro primary industry

Motorsports Teams (F1, NASCAR, IndyCar, Rally, MotoGP, etc.) (MPAKABAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Motorsports Series & Championships (Sanctioned Racing Calendars) (MPAKAGAA)

Keywords

• Baja sae competition
• Off-road vehicle design
• Student engineering team
• Collegiate motorsport
• Vehicle suspension engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Corvallis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: Monetary donations collected through Oregon State University Foundation. Donors select 'Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Fund' and mention 'Baja' in comments
2. Corporate Sponsorship: Corporate sponsors at various tiers (Platinum $10,000+, Gold $5,000-$9,999, Silver $1,000-$4,999, Bronze $500-$999, Friend $100-$499) providing logo placement, website links, and vehicle panel visibility

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Beaver Racing is Oregon State University's Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Baja collegiate competition team that designs, fabricates, tests, and races a single-passenger off-road vehicle for SAE Baja competitions. The vehicle is built around a standardized 14hp Kohler Command Pro CH440 engine with a modified restrictor plate, featuring a heavy rear weight bias, long travel independent front and rear suspension, and a limited slip differential in a rugged mid-weight package. The team is organized into subsystems (Drivetrain, Chassis, CVT, Suspension, Electrical, and Statics) and competes in annual Baja SAE events across the United States.

Product overview

Beaver Racing is a student competition team at Oregon State University that designs and builds off-road Baja SAE vehicles for collegiate engineering competitions. The team participates in SAE Baja events, competing against other universities to engineer, manufacture, and race single-passenger off-road vehicles. The team does not offer products or services for commercial sale; its focus is on engineering education and competition. The team operates with subsystems covering Drivetrain, Chassis, CVT, Suspension, Electrical, and Statics, and competes in annual Baja SAE events where all teams use a standardized 14hp Kohler Command Pro CH440 engine.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Baja SAE Off-Road Vehicle A purpose-built single-passenger off-road vehicle designed and manufactured by student engineers at Oregon State University for SAE Baja collegiate competitions. The design philosophy emphasizes heavy rear weight bias for traction, long travel independent front and rear suspension, and a limited slip differential in a simple, rugged mid-weight package. The vehicle is built annually for competition and is not offered for commercial sale.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1st Place at Baja SAE Oregon 2023
• +3 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Oregon State University College of EngineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent organization providing resources, facilities (Rogers Hall, Dearborn Hall), and institutional support

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• University of Michigan Baja SAE: Michigan Baja is one of the most established collegiate Baja SAE teams in the series and competes in the same U.S. Baja SAE competitions as Beaver Racing (including the Holly, Michigan event where Beaver Racing placed 8th overall in 2024).
• Purdue University Baja SAE: Purdue SAE operates a Baja division that competes directly against Beaver Racing in the SAE Baja series, with similar team size, OSU-equivalent engineering school backing, and corporate sponsorship structures from Midwest manufacturers.
• RIT Baja SAE: Rochester Institute of Technology's Baja SAE team is named in Beaver Racing's competition history (30+ events) and competes in the same national Baja SAE series, sharing team composition, sponsorship approach, and competition cadence.
• Cornell Baja SAE: Cornell Baja Racing designs and builds off-road vehicles for SAE Baja competitions, mirroring Beaver Racing's mission of student-led vehicle design, manufacturing, and competition in the same national event calendar.
• Georgia Tech Baja SAE: Georgia Tech's SAE chapter fields a Baja SAE team that competes in the same event series as Beaver Racing, sharing the engineering-competition model, multi-tiered corporate sponsorship program, and university-based operational structure.
• Virginia Tech Baja SAE: Virginia Tech Motorsports runs a Baja SAE collegiate off-road vehicle team that designs and builds single-passenger vehicles for the same SAE Baja series that Beaver Racing competes in, making program structure, sponsorship tiers, and competition schedule directly comparable.
• UTEP Baja SAE: The University of Texas at El Paso fields a Baja SAE team referenced in Beaver Racing's competition history (30+ events attended across the U.S.), making it a directly comparable collegiate Baja program competing in the same series.
• Auburn University Baja SAE: Auburn SAE competes in the same Baja SAE series that Beaver Racing attends, with the Auburn event host site referenced in Beaver Racing's competition history; program structure, sponsor model, and engineering focus are directly comparable.
• Texas A&M Baja SAE: Texas A&M's Aggie Baja SAE team operates a comparable collegiate Baja program with similar subsystem structure, corporate sponsorship tiers, and competition participation as Beaver Racing at Oregon State.

Broad incumbents

• SAE International (Baja SAE program): SAE International is the sanctioning body that organizes the Baja SAE competition series in which Beaver Racing competes; it sets rules, hosts events, and oversees the broader collegiate motorsports ecosystem encompassing all Baja SAE teams.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@beaver_racing_osu
• Facebookfacebook.com/OSUBeaverRacing
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/beaverracing
• Instagraminstagram.com/beaver_racing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Beaver Racing