When applying to college, Bucknell swimmer Matt Raudabaugh was told that competing as a Division I athlete and majoring in engineering was not a possibility. Four years later, Matt is in his senior year at Bucknell as a highly accomplished student-athlete both academically and athletically.
A Carlisle, Pennsylvania native, Matt grew up just 90 minutes away from Bucknell. He played soccer when he was young and only started to swim in sixth grade. By his junior year, he stopped playing soccer to focus on what would become an accomplished swimming career.
Matt was a two-time PIAA AA state champion in the 100 breaststroke and a four-time state qualifier at Kinney Natatorium. He graduated from Big Spring High School with the school record in the 100 breaststroke and the 100 butterfly and broke several pool records throughout his high school days. His career as a student-athlete took a turn when he dislocated his shoulder early in his junior season at Bucknell, affecting both his swimming and hands-on work as mechanical engineering major. Through his journey, Matt’s grown into a leader for his team and his classmates, and he is raising the bar of excellence at Bucknell.
“I was told it wasn’t possible, but in the Patriot League and especially Bucknell, it is very possible. We have plenty of engineers on the team, and it shows that anyone can accomplish that.”
Matt originally applied to Bucknell as a civil engineering major, but then went into mechanical engineering to give him more flexibility to figure out what his interests were. He currently serves as the President of the Bucknell SAE BAJA Club where students team up to build an off-road vehicle that is later sent to national competition.
“I really love the automotive side of mechanical engineering. I’ve been doing the BAJA Club for about three years now and I really enjoy designing, building and then actually putting the vehicle to the test. To go through the whole process of building something then see it actually work is so much fun.”
Matt joined the BAJA Club as a sophomore back when the club was only a senior design project. There was no involvement by underclassmen, but that year, they needed to rebuild the entire car and needed help with machine parts.
“That’s where I came along with some of my friends. They gave us their drawings and said ‘here, can you make this?’ That’s how it started and then heading into my junior year, we had a big push to create a club for this.”
Before the club, a different group of seniors would take over the project each year. That meant the only knowledge and information that was passed down came from the professor.
Matt served as the vice president of the club last year, and the team took the car to competition in Arizona where they placed 44th out of 72 teams in their first official competition as a club. Twelve students traveled to the competition, but this year, 21 students are planning to make the trip with the competition being held in New York for 2026.
“Being able to travel and race the car, that was awesome. Designing every aspect of the car as a larger group, we can now track data and pass it on to the next year’s group. It will certainly give us more direction in terms of building and designing for future students.”
The club works on the same car year-to-year, redesigning, rebuilding and fixing any problems that arose in the previous competition. The top-finishing teams at the competition must change a certain percentage of their vehicle. Every three years, each team must build a new frame.
With Matt as one of the leaders and biggest advocates for the club, it has now expanded to a larger group of sub-teams. This year, the club is sponsoring a mechanical team, a senior design team, an electrical senior design team, a business management team, and a frame sub-team. Bucknell rebuilt the frame for this year’s competition after it took a lot of damage, and the senior design team had to rebuild the suspension after it broke at last year’s competition.
“We have an electrical design team and it’s the first time that we’ll have a full data collection system. In the past, we’ve been guessing values, but now we can see how much force is being applied to certain parts for example.”
The business management team helps the club with static events such as giving presentations. The team is also working to get sponsorships for the club and the competition. This year, the team gave a successful business presentation and now move on to a virtual business presentation. The team also assists with financial management of the project.
The static events can earn the team points heading into the race. The team can also collect points in dynamic events, where the team puts the car to the test with acceleration, hill climb, maneuverability, suspension and traction. The car is then put to action in a final four-hour endurance race.
With Matt’s injury to his shoulder, he’s taken a step back from hands-on work to overseeing the sub-teams and ensuring that the groups are collaborating on their responsibilities.
“With my shoulder, I’ve really switched from the physical work to the managerial work. I help coordinate new ideas and work together to investigate what could or could not work. I want to motivate everyone to do their best work and focus on staying on track with their projects. Last semester was a lot of design and modeling, but now that we’re in the phase of actually building, everything can get really hectic.”
The team is set to compete from June 11-14 in Palmyra, New York. Matt’s work extends beyond the BAJA Club. He’s completed several internships, a fellowship and spent a semester as a teaching assistant. One project in particular, may just become a reality. The project started with an internship, and it led to another opportunity for a fellowship with Royal Truck & Equipment. Matt worked on a five-person team to research, build and prototype a roadside cone pickup design.
“It was really a year-and-a-half long project with multiple groups before it was all said and done. It started off as a summer project before going into a senior design phase where myself and a few other finalized the project. We worked this past summer to have a fully functioning prototype, and we’re now in the process of getting patents for it.”
Matt is one of many academic success stories at Bucknell, and he’ll look to continue influencing the field of mechanical engineering at M.C. Dean after graduation where he will be working on physical security systems.
“I really love the automotive side, but this is going to be a great opportunity to learn new things and develop my skills. From there, I think I’ll be better positioned to move on to other opportunities that arise.”
In the midst of the 2026 Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championships in Annapolis, Maryland, Matt is looking to get back to his best times from the 2024 season after working through his shoulder injury the past two seasons. He is scheduled for surgery to fix a torn labrum just a week after Bucknell’s championship season, but he is full go for the Patriot League and the ECAC Championships.
“I’ve taken some medicine and tape my shoulder, but it definitely feels unstable at certain points. I feel 100% and I’m excited to see what I can do when I’m in shape and ready to go unlike last season. I can’t swim the butterfly or the backstroke, but luckily the breaststroke is my main event and that doesn’t affect me too much.”
Matt owns the sixth-fastest time in the 100 breaststroke in Bucknell history set at the Patriot League Championships in 2024. The Patriot League championships hosted by Navy began on Wednesday and run through Saturday.
“I was sick two weeks before the race with strep throat which was not fun at all. Swimming just kind of happens, it’s hard to explain. I never swim my best when I think about it, so I just went out there and raced. After the race, I have no idea what happened; I just touched the wall and saw my time. I’m really looking forward to swimming at the championships again and see what I can do.”
After missing out on the championships when the Bison hosted last season, Matt will at least have the opportunity to compete at Kinney Natatorium again for the ECAC Championships on February 27 to March 1.
“The Patriot League and ECAC Championships are always a ton of fun. We start with preliminaries early, then we get a good block of time to be with family or teammates. You get some time to recover, then get ready to go again for finals. The whole time you’re just cheering and cheering on your teammates and friends.”
Over the last two seasons, Matt’s put an emphasis on bringing the energy for his team whether it’s early in the morning or in the evening sessions. He also has his eyes set on making an A-Final for the first time in his career.
“Building that energy and getting everyone else excited is the biggest thing. When you have the whole team behind you, it’s a lot easier to get out there and swim. I’ve been swimming near my best times, which is pretty surprising and I’m grateful I can still compete at that level.”
Matt is one of 17 seniors on the team, and the relationships he has made within the team will last a lifetime.
“These are the people I’m around 20 hours every week and I’ve grown up with them over the last four years. Everything we do together is so much fun. Even when you have a bad race, don’t feel great or have a bad practice, it’s all fun in one way or another and those memories with the team are some of the best.”
Matt competed in the 50 freestyle on Thursday and made the B-Final in the 100 breaststroke on Friday morning with a time of 55:35 — just a half-second off of his personal record. Matt will compete in the B-Final Friday night with events beginning at 6 p.m. Matt is also set to compete in the 200 breaststroke on Saturday morning for preliminaries at 10 a.m. and is looking to qualify for another final on Saturday night. Fans can watch Matt and the Bison live on ESPN+ or follow live results HERE.