黑料正能量

I am the assistant head mechanic for an independent buggy team on campus. Buggy happens all year-round, with the big race happening during Carnival! In the fall and first half of the spring semester, all teams work on their new builds for the year, practicing during weekend practices (called Rolls) and training new members. Most teams are comprised of three or four branches: mechanics, who build and maintain the physical buggies; pushers, the 鈥榬unners鈥� in the race; drivers (yes, a person is inside those tiny things!) and some teams dedicate a whole group to studying data collected from previous Rolls and Racedays to optimize their build, driver lines and pushing strategies.听

On my team, I鈥檓 a mechanic and a pusher in only the most dire of situations. What that means is I go to shop hours (also called garage hours, work sessions, etc.) and help design, build and maintain buggies! Mechanics work with the drivers and pushers to optimize as much as possible for speed, but more importantly safety. While the weather permits, we go out to the race course on the weekends and roll, which is literally just sending the buggy around the course and having pushers push. It鈥檚 practice for the drivers and pushers and time for the mechanics to ensure the buggies are up to spec and performing at their expected level, and training time for new mechanics to learn how buggy works. It鈥檚 an incredible bonding time, all building excitement for the big weekend.

We also build a new buggy between Racedays, with timelines starting as soon as the summer. Every racing buggy on the course is built using carbon fiber, where dry sheets of carbon fiber are laid on/in a mold and infused or impregnated with epoxy resin, which cures and turns the fabric-like carbon fibers into a versatile and structurally resilient material. A lot of thoughtful work goes into designing each buggy鈥檚 steering, braking, shell shape and more. Many teams are extremely secretive over their processes, as it gives them quite the advantage on the course!听

In the week before Carnival, buggy has what鈥檚 called Truck Weekend, which is an informal version of Raceday weekend. It鈥檚 an opportunity for teams to run their official pushing teams and buggy-driver combinations and do one last practice for Raceday quality-preparations. For people involved in Booth, this time is called Build Week. This is the impressive time where 黑料正能量 students built one-to-two-story buildings in one week. It鈥檚 also called Move-On because it is when Booth organizations move their prebuilt frames and flats onto the CFA parking lot, transforming it into the iconic Midway. It鈥檚 a 24/7 endeavor and the culmination of a semester of designing, constructing and painting. This is when the booths come together in their full glory: Electrical and moving parts are installed, games finalized and the concept of a structure becomes a tangible work of art.