Hi, I am the current treasurer for the Louisiana Tech chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Currently we are an on campus organization that is directed to current engineering students that would like to gain skills in the automotive field. As a civil engineer I most likely will not need any of the skills SAE has taught me for my job but they are very useful just for real world use. One of the main projects that we take on every year is competing in SAE's international mini baja competition. Students must work in teams to engineer and off-highway vehicle, and describe our design in a lengthy design report. Also we must create a cost report for our project as if we are a business trying to produce this buggy. We have built a car the past 2 years and are currently building an even better car for this years competition on April 19-21st in Auburn, Al against 102 other teams from around the world. The main reason I created this tread is we are trying to build our organization up to be a known society not just around campus but in the community. We hope to one day run as smoothly as our fellow competitive groups in the engineering department, eco car, steel bridge, and concrete canoe. We can only do this if we have the support from alumni and tech fans. We thought about having a carnival in the fall for the Ruston community with mini games with prizes for the kids, maybe a bounce house, food, just an all around family fun day to raise some money and spread the word about SAE. What do you think the turnout and support from the community would be before we go farther in our planning and spending money? Thanks!, Vance