BUGGY
Buggy is a unique and long-standing tradition at Carnegie Mellon University, dating back to the early 1900s. CMU Buggy involves teams designing and building small, aerodynamic, and highly engineered carbon-fiber free-rolling vehicles which reach speeds of around 35-40 mph, and then racing against other teams. Safety is a top priority, and the competition combines engineering, athleticism, and teamwork.
During the entirety of my CMU career (5 years of undergraduate and graduate studies combined), I’ve been part of the Carnegie Involvement Association (CIA) team, an independent buggy team which was started in 1970.
During the 2023-2024 academic year, I had an additional role as Buggy Book Chair, on an appointed member of Sweepstakes, the organization that overlooks all of the buggy teams, and creates the Bylaws to ensure the sport stays safe and fun.
CARNEGIE INVOLVEMENT ASSOCIATION (CIA) BUGGY TEAM
For my team, CIA Buggy, I began as a mechanic my freshman year. I then gained enough knowledge and experience to be elected secretary the year after, and later co-chair the year after that. I’m currently a senior advisor for the organization, providing mentorship and guidance when needed.
As co-chair, I led a group of 70+ pushers, mechanics, drivers, and additional members who provided support. During that year (Raceday ‘23), CIA Buggy won 1st place in the design competition, 2nd place in the women’s races, 3rd place in all-gender races, set an internal organization record for fastest time, and also had the fastest time on the course since covid. This past Raceday, CIA placed 1st in men’s, 1st in women’s, 2nd in all-gender, and 2nd in the design competition.
SWEEPSTAKES
As appointed Buggy Book Chair on Sweepstakes this past year, I documented the CMU-unique tradition in a 49-paged booklet with collected accounts of experiences across different roles and teams. The Buggy Book captures a yearly snapshot of CMU Buggy, and has been printed annually since the 60s. You can find the Buggy Book I designed for Raceday 2024 and past years here.
