any real roller coaster designers or theme park designers?

[phoenixhazard]

my dream job is to work for disney imagineering and im just wondering if there is anyone else in here that works in the same industry or has my same goals.

[jonnyrocks]

i have the same dream........

[Harpo]

I'm an electrical engineer in the automotive industry, but I've been trying to get into entertainment design. Actually, I've been trying for about 12 years now. It's not an easy field to get into!

I've interviewed with Disney Imagineering and with Intamin USA, and I've talked informally with smaller companies, including Larson International and Miler Coaster Company. By phone, I've spoken to Arrow Dynamics.

The results so far? Well, I'm still working in the automotive industry! But, I'm now taking business classes to add to my two electrical engineering degrees with thoughts of possibly starting my own entertainment-related company. (I recognize that I have the engineering skills, but don't know as much as I should about the business end of things, hence I'm taking the MBA courses to try and eliminate that weakness, thereby hopefully improving the chances of success when it comes to starting a company.)

Incidentally, I've wanted to work in that industry for at least 34 years -- I first mentioned it to my parents when I was 3 years old! The closest I've come thus far is to have spent 4 summers working at Cedar Point while I was in college. They were great summers, but they didn't spark the career I was hoping to find!

[RCT2head]

same here, except i don't work...
can't
anyways, harpo, what company would that be? a ride engineer/construction, or a coaster engineer company?

[Harpo]

Several thoughts on the business. From a financial standpoint for getting off the ground, I think some of my ideas for spin-n-go-puke rides could be a good foundation for a ride design company. However, I've also got ideas for coasters, too, but they would be harder for a small company to develop -- with some success in spin-n-go-pukers, it might be easier to get funding for developing bigger attractions.

I've also considered the possibility of starting my own amusement park. Dutch Wonderland in Pennsylvania is the inspiration that tells me it may be possible -- although now owned by Hershey, it was started as a family operation containing only 4 rides.

I also have a couple of ideas in entertainment services, but, since they potentially encroach upon my employer's territory, I have first offered these ideas to my employer, as required by my employment agreement. However, I'm trying to get my employer to commit one way or another -- if they aren't interested, I'd like them to tell me so in writing, giving me clearance to proceed with these ideas. Because of the potential legal complications, I cannot mention those ideas here. Besides, I think they have some patent potential, and I'd rather not give away such thoughts, especially on a public chat board where any lurker could be reading! :D

[phoenixhazard]

We should stick together since we are a small type. plus if one of us gets in we can pull eachother ;).

My dream to work in Imagineering has been there my whole life. I love the entertainment industry, especially theme parks and Disney is my fav company. I actually interned at disney world last summer and my mentor was the senior vp of engineering there. really cool guy that showed me lots of awesome stuff, including the cad drawings and designs for soaring over california that will be put in epcot at disney world. i also worked a summer at Six Flags, so im pretty goal set. im actually currently a 3rd year mechanical engineering student at ucsb. If I didnt work in theme parks then i know i would hate engineering, only reason im in it is for disney, purely.

Harpo you said you had 2 EE degrees, what are they? bs and masters?

[raptorrvnge4928]

Small type? LOL I am sure 80% of the people who frequent this board are aiming for a ride in ride/coaster design. 4th year civil engineering major here at MSU, and lets face it, I would love to as well. Problem? Its not feasible (which ha never stopped me in the past), and I dont think I have the correct educationf or such an endeavour. Not to mention I dont have a friggin clue how to get in such a field. I would have a better chance of being on board the project to refurbish and repair the Mackinaw Bridge in 2018, rather than designing a rollercoaster....

...but as I said, 'odds' have never stopped me before, and coaster design has always been in the back of my mind through my education.

Have a good week everybody-I'm off to Florida.

[phoenixhazard]

first of all mechanical engineering is perfect for theme park designing. as for civil, you all design the roller coaster tracks. its a hard field to get into but all you gotta do is stay oriented on your goal, work as many jobs and internships as you can land. its hard but its also possible. while i was on my disney internship i met a few people that graduated at UF or FSU and landed a job at directly after graduation at disney.

[Harpo]

Yep, B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering, both from Michigan State University.

When entering college, I had a tough decision. I wanted to obtain a career in ride design, for which I felt Mechanical Engineering would be a better fit, but my research also showed how tough a field that would be to break into. So, looking deeper into the career, I felt that, if I wasn't doing ride design, I'd rather be doing electrical engineering than mechanical engineering, hence the decision to go for EE, knowing that it would make it a bit tougher to break into ride design, but it would be a more satisfying career fit for me if I couldn't get into any entertainment design. It was a tough but practical decision. When it comes to life, I go by this credo: Think optimistically, plan pessimistically, act realistically. The optimist was saying that, absolutely, I'd find a way to do entertainment design. The pessimist was saying, not a chance -- probably end up in automotive, like most of Michigan. The realist was saying, best choice for a happy career is electrical engineering.

I do think it's interesting, however, that the entertainment industry had a huge influence on it. Back in Junior High School, I was thinking about either medicine or engineering. A trip to EPCOT Center and the Communicore (where Imaginations now sits, I believe) strongly tipped the scales to engineering. I saw a lot of the stuff being developed for real-world use, and I decided that I wanted to be a part of it. Then, by putting someone with a terrible fear of public speaking into a role as a Weight Guesser, thereby forcing me to overcome that fear, Cedar Point gave me the confidence I needed to get through engineering. I had a period when the grades seemed to be slipping, and I very nearly gave it up. But, I thought back to how I succeeded at overcoming the fear of public speaking by simply being determined to make that summer job work, and that got me rededicated to engineering -- the grades improved drastically after that, I went on for a Master's with a teaching assistantship, and I never looked back!

Now, with the entertainment industry providing so much positive influence on my career, doesn't it seem logical that I should obtain a position in the entertainment industry???

[phoenixhazard]

sure does. for me engineering itself seems boring other than theme park design. hopefully i have a chance of getting a job at WDW since Imagineering seems highly unlikely. I just need to improve my grades since as of now I only have a C+ average and this year, junior year, is supposedly the hardest (thermo, fluids :S). I'll get through it though since I always pass and I work hard enough to. I just have trouble staying determined enough to work hard enough for the A range. plus i have a band which takes up loads of time, another passion in my life.

[Harpo]

What type of music does your band play?

I recall trying very hard to get an internship at WDW, but, at the time, they were only interested in interns from the (approximately) local area, with some form of year-round availability. Commuting from Michigan State to Orlando would have been a bit of a challenge! :D

For EE, I had to take Thermo, too. Of course, it was only the first thermo class, but I found it to be easier than many of my EE classes. However, I didn't find it to be particularly exciting stuff. Anyway, if you can remain interested in it, I don't think you'll find thermo to be too tough. I don't know about fluid dynamics -- I didn't have to take that for my EE.

(I got a real laugh out of Organic Chemistry. It was supposed to be the "weeder" class for the chem majors -- they considered it to be one of their toughest classes. I breezed through that one. It was strictly memorization -- no actual thinking was required! The instructor even said on the first day, "Don't try to understand why these things happen. Just know that they do.")

I've got a "Sample Ph.D. Qualifying Exam" from Michigan State's EE program. It consists of 17 questions. Despite the name of the exam, EE students at MSU are required to pass the exam in order to earn their Master's degree. Anyway, one of the questions on the "Sample" is from Mechanical Engineering. It asks:

"The diassembled parts of a high-powered rifle have been placed in a box on your desk. You will also find an instruction manual, printed in Swahili. In ten minutes, a hungry Bengal tiger will be admitted to the room. Take whatever action you feel appropriate. Be prepared to justify your decision."

(Oddly enough, that question wasn't asked on my real Ph.D. qualifying exam, although it may have been easier than some of the questions I was asked! ;) )

[phoenixhazard]

hahah i love that question. my answer would have been "as an ME i understand how to deal with stress and strain, therefor the gun would be ready to kill that lousy tiger when he gets in."
my band plays metal, mostly thrash/death but we have alot of iron maiden influence. The WDW internship was bull, it was actually just working in the park living with college students doing the same thing, i would hardly call it an internship. the only plus side of it was that i met the senior vp of engineering there so i just need to keep in contact with him. Do you have AIM or MSN messenger?

[Harpo]

No, I don't have AIM or MSN. I consider both AOL and Microsoft to be hideous, evil influences, hence I try to avoid them! :D

Actually, having taught myself how to program on an old Radio Shack TRS 80 back in the stone ages (well, about 27 years ago), and having started using the Internet about 24 years ago (at least 15 years before Al Gore invented it), the quality (or lack thereof) of the programming and services by Microsoft and AOL tends to really irritate me. So, I usually stick to email through my Sprynet account, which was then bought by Mindspring, which was bought by Earthlink.

Getting dizzy yet? My girlfriend isn't sure what causes her more disorientation: spin-n-go-puke rides, or my messages when I'm in a playfully goofy mood. (As opposed to a playfully Mickey Mouse mood, which is entirely different. Fortunately, I can imitate both voices fairly well. Gawrsh.)

I have used one instant messaging thing on my home PC, but I haven't used it for so long, I forget the name of it! D'Oh! (I never was very good at remembering names! I have to wear an ID card to work so that I can check it when I forget my own name.) Anyway, email usually is the safest and fastest way to reach me. Just make sure the subject is something meaningful, or I might delete it thinking it to be one of the 857,243 spams I get per day.

Of the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam, I think my favorite question is the one on General Knowledge:

"Describe in detail. Be objective and specific."

However, Cosmology was also fun:

"Define the Universe; give three examples."

Our friends from overseas may enjoy the Biology question:

"Create life. Estimate the difference in subsequent human culture if this form of life had developed 500 million years earlier, with special attention to its probable effect on the English parliamentary system. Prove your thesis."

I tell ya, graduate electrical engineers can have a warped and twisted sense of humor. I'm proud to say that my sense of humor is no exception!

[AssMonkey69]

Dude, I wish I could be an engineer, I wanna design crap as good as B&M.

[RCT2head]

me 2, but i already talked about that in another thread...
AssMokey? Where'd that name come from... i believe i have a cousin named chris that uses a screename similar to that.

[phoenixhazard]

why can't you be an engineer?

[RCT2head]

were you asking the monkey?

[phoenixhazard]

both of you

[RCT2head]

i can, i was just saying that i've already discussed it in another thread here, and don't want to get back into a discussion that was ended about 2 months ago.