The student chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) won 8th place overall at the SAE Baja Oregon international competition on May 7-10, 2009. 

The team made significant modifications to the Baja vehicle that was built last year to compete in the SAE Baja competition in Illinois (new shocks and shock mounts, wheel spindles and new body panels). The team competed in all the event categories with the vehicle at the Oregon expo center on May 8, including the static judging for design, cost, and technical inspection. They then competed in all the dynamic events the next two days at the motocross track in Washougal, Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland. The dynamic events on May 9 included the Maneuverability Test, the Hill Climb, the Rock Crawl, and Acceleration. The four hour endurance race was held the next day. Out of about 80 cars entered from all over the world, Chico State finished 3rd in the Rock Crawl, 14th in the Hill Climb, 24th in Maneuverability, and 33rd in Acceleration. They finished 7th in the four hour endurance race, and at the awards ceremony and banquet that evening, they learned that they had finished 8th overall – the best finish ever for Chico State in a SAE Baja competition.

The students were from both the Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Technology programs.