Becoming a "Rollercoaster Designer"

[jadamb03]

I know it's probably hard as anythign to become one, but how does it become accomplished? I know you need to go into the Engineering field, learn physics, math, and a few other things, but how hard it is for an average person to go into? Im not the smartest person in the world but I have had an urge to design real ones as a kid sence I was 8 and now im 18.

[Bluestrike2]

Very, very hard. Sorry!

First off, a large number of firms are not in the US. Second, they do not hire people that often. Third, you do a small part of the project. It is ALL specialized. One might work on structural support while an Electrical Engineer(s) works on the wiring schematics. Someone else might design the station. Another would model it on the computer. See where I'm going? There is no one man show anymore.

Architecture, Structural Engineering, the list goes on.

Realize this, the cold hard truth. Theme Park Engineering is an extremely competitive branch of the engineering field. Your chances are slim that you would become a "roller coaster designer." Everyone and their brother want the job. VERY few can land it.

Besides, there are less than 100 coaster design firms in the United States. Ready to move to Switzerland?


Sorry to be a killjoy. Just don't get your hopes up...

In summary, there are people extremely smart that get turned down. The best of the best. If you didn't take a TON of courses in HS that would set you up for the Engineering/Arch career paths, and pass with flying colors, your chances are SEVERELY lessened.

You have people who graduated with honors from schools like Carnegie Mellon and MIT competing for these jobs. It would be NO easy walk in the park.

[XopePoquar]

I know an imagineer. Apparently it's not nearly has hard to become an imagineer as a roller coaster designer. Don't get me wrong, it's still very competetive. Basically, take as many advanced math classes and physics classes as you can. You're not going to do this with any less than College Calculus 2 and every physics class known to man. Good luck.

[jadamb03]

Originally posted by XopePoquar
I know an imagineer. Apparently it's not nearly has hard to become an imagineer as a roller coaster designer. Don't get me wrong, it's still very competetive. Basically, take as many advanced math classes and physics classes as you can. You're not going to do this with any less than College Calculus 2 and every physics class known to man. Good luck.

Hmmmm an Imagineer? What is the difference?

[aoshi]

imagineer's work for Disney. Imagination/Engineering=Imagineering. :D

[RCT4me]

They design the disney coaster games right? That imagination thing sounds cheesy though, no wonder the game itself is very unrealistic. (it seems to be intended for the unrealism)

But if you enjoy designing coasters, and want to get more into it, drop the RCT3 and get into NL. www.nolimitscoaster.com This is no mere sim, it's the most realistic, and is for serious coaster enthusiasts.

Remember, experience in NL is not going to get you any jobs though.

[Bluestrike2]

Engineers do not design video games.

They are the people who design and implement the rides, animatronics, and architecture at the Disney resorts and properties.

Furthermore, there is more competition for spots in the WED Imagineering program than people trying to become coaster designers.

The reasoning behind the name is because these men and women think outside the box with their imaginations, and then use their knowledge to implement it.

First off, where have you applied/been accepted for college? What kind of courses did you take in HS?

[coasterdude89]

I also want to be a thrill ride/ coaster engineer. Maybe even a waterslide/ride engineer. I am a sophmore in high school, ranked 11 in my class with a 4.5 GPA. I am in currently in Algebra 2 Honors (oh I hate that class) and plan to not take Pre Cal next year due to my low quiz grades but high test grades (If you only new my teacher. Last week, we had a quiz every single day. ) I 've never done so bad in math in my life. Always straight A's, right now, my grade is a low B in there. I new that I should have signed up for regular. My guidenced councle wants me to take AP US History,. I know that I could handle it but there is so much homeworks everynight, and with Cross Country and Track, I would be under too much stress! She says that it would boost my GPA up to about a 4.75 or so.

I was planning to take some engieering classes next year since I would be a junior, but the Career Center is turning into a full fledged Academy of the Arts and Science high school next year and they only are accepting 8th graders to be a freshman class. So, that leaves everybody my age with no chance to take the classes. So, that might ruin my future, hopefully not, but I can blame Union County Public Schools and not myself!! ;)

[BoRJoYZeE]

Roller coaster is very hard to become one, but if you really really really work for it and you really want to become one then go ahead, I hope you can get the job afterwards.

[Bluestrike2]

Yeah!

A fellow XC runner!

Nothing like a 5k!

[leonardofury]

You will also need to be fluent in French or German, if you want to work for Intimin and I suspect the same would apply to B&M

[Hyde244]

Well ,basically, your chances of getting hired are zero to nothing in the coaster field. I mean, I've been obsessed with coasters ever since age 4, and have wanted to be a coaster engineer throughout my childhood. But, I realized that I prolly won't make it, seeing as it is one of the most selective fields out there. I mean, my cousin originally wanted to be an air plane engineer, but now he designs car engines for Honda.

[RCT2head]

hey
if u r really good at math, which i'm not, (a D in Geometry is not getting me anywhere, probably anythime in the future 10 years) and u have some spare money to build prototypes...
why not build some unique kiddie and thrill ride prototypes, submit them for patenting, and then name your price for any company actually building them... i don't know how it works enough to tell u if that would work to a certain extent, but if it does, u could use the $ from the patents and make your own company... i think that's how the designers of this (http://www.thrillride.com/Skyscraper/Skyscraper.html) ride originally made their 1st ride

[leonardofury]

Well if you name your price, the company may well tell you to get lost and just wait until the patent expires. Plus there is so much that goes into a modern thrill ride now that it is almost imposible for one person to design one on their one.
For example to design something like a Top Spin you would need the minimum on a team.

An Electronic/Control Engineer (Central CPU and control, safety sensors)
An Electrical Engineer (Motors and Power conversion)
A Civil Engineer (Structures)
A Mechanical/Mechatronic Engineer (Movement integration)
A Materials Engineer (Choice of appropriate materials)
A Isometric Planner/CAD Operator (To draw out the plans)
And possibly a Mechanical/Hydrolic Engineer (For the water jets)

To be honest, to progress at a decent rate you would probebly need more engineers, which partly explains why more engineers are needed in modern society.

[RCT2head]

ok, my suggestion sucked... but hey, u r bound to find a bunch of other people who would want to do the same thing, and u all could make a ride to make some money, and then progress to bigger and better stuff

[Harpo]

If it helps...

I'm an electrical engineer who's always wanted to work in the entertainment field. (Right now, I'm as close as I've been, having done some work in the Virtual Reality Center for my company. However, most of my work has been in the automotive and semiconductor fields.)

I've sent well over 1000 resumes to entertainment-related companies over the past 12 years, and I've talked to several companies, either by phone or in person, including three "biggies" -- Intamin, Arrow Dynamics, and Walt Disney Imagineering.

For Intamin, I could have gotten into Intamin USA, but that's a sales and support arm of Intamin -- they don't do any of the design, and so I wasn't interested. However, the president of Intamin USA told me a bit about designing for the parent company -- he indicated that it requires being fluent in French AND German (not the "OR" stated in a previous post). My four years of high school French wasn't going to cut it!

Arrow told me (by phone) that they required at least 10 years of work experience before they'd even consider the person, and then it was a matter of the resume coming across the desk at exactly the right time, when they needed someone.

Walt Disney Imagineering went the farthest, when I interviewed with 4 people on their site in California. Unfortunately, they didn't respond with an offer. However, one of the things that made me uneasy about WDI was how they handle the staff -- they indicated that they tend to staff up for a large project, then release most of those people when the project is done. That surprised me -- I would think that the type of design done by WDI is so unique that they'd want to keep good people to design the next project, rather than having to try to find more people again.

While at an ACE convention (I've been to exactly one!), I spoke with some folks at Larson International -- makers of some carnival rides, such as Super Loops (aka Ring of Fire, Fireball, etc.). Most of their people are manufacturers. They told me they don't have many openings for engineers -- their control systems, for example, are done by one person, spending less than 50% of his time on that work.

Right now, I'm taking a bit of a different approach. I'm in my second year of taking MBA classes in the evenings (after work). I'm hoping that the knowledge gained from those classes will help me in finding a way to start my own entertainment-related company. That's not my sole reason for going after the MBA, but it is one reason.

So, my advice -- get into a field that you're going to enjoy, no matter what industry you work in. If you can find a way to get into the entertainment design industry from there, that's great, but you shouldn't expect to get into that industry, so make sure you'll like what you're doing. That's actually why I went into electrical engineering -- I felt that mechanical might have been better for roller coaster designing, but I also had done enough research to know a) that getting into roller coaster design would be difficult, and b) that I preferred electrical engineering to mechanical engineering. So, I went with electrical because I felt I'd be able to find many jobs that I'd enjoy outside of the entertainment industry, although I'd still like to get into the entertainment industry.

I hope that information is helpful!

[RCT2head]

question, harpo...
if i wasn't to get into an amusement industry job, but was a mech. engineer, what types of jobs would i be doing?

[Harpo]

If you were to be in Michigan, there are quite a few jobs you could do with automotive design and testing. Many of the powertrain designers are mechanical engineers, including quite a few with specializations in fluid dynamics. Powertrain would include engines and transmissions. The vehicles also need structural engineering, which is often done by mechanical engineers. Structural engineering could be a big job in many industries besides automotive, as well. For example, a structural engineer may have designed the casing for a furnace, and a fluids expert may have designed the heating elements.

M.E.'s could also be a part of a team (including civil engineers and electrical engineers, among others) to develop assembly lines for any industry where items are constructed on assembly lines.

M.E.'s have some good positions with Boeing and GE Aircraft Engines for developing planes and their engine components.

I should give the warning, however, that mechanical engineering is often viewed as an "older" engineering. I've had some coworkers who were M.E.'s who were struggling to find positions, so they worked on learning more about computers and computer programming, including embedded systems. Their mechanical background was helpful in developing computer simulations of electronic components, however, so their M.E. education certainly was not a total waste! It was actually very helpful in developing the simulations for mechanical and electro-mechanical systems.

Right now, it is getting tough to get into engineering jobs, as many of them are going overseas (such as to India and China). However, that progression is expected to stabilize in about 8 to 10 years, so, depending on when you see yourself completing the degree, there's a possibility that the job market will be opening up significantly. (With going straight on for my Master's degree after completing my Bachelor's degree, it took me 7 years of college, if that helps with the planning at all.)

Although I had great fun spending my summers working at Cedar Point, and I thought it taught me some wonderful things, it would be helpful for a studying engineer to get a summer internship in engineering. It's much more important now than it was when I was in college. Getting advanced degrees is also becoming more helpful. Plus, I found the Master's degree (at least at Michigan State) helped bring in more "real world" situations while the undergraduate degree focused more on the theory.

If there are any more questions, I'll be glad to do my best to answer them! I hope this info is helpful!

By the way, I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from entering into engineering. Most engineering majors are very difficult, but, in my opinion, the challenge is part of what makes them so rewarding. It all depends on what motivates you -- if you like a challenge, you should like engineering. (It would help to also like mathematics, as there's a lot of it in engineering study!)

[RCT2head]

thanks...
what are the average qualifications needed to be a ride mechanic, for a summer job? and what would the advantages over ride op would that be?

[Harpo]

I'm not really sure what the ride mechanic qualifications would be. At Cedar Point, I believe the mechanics are unionized, hence joining the union would be one requirement.

You might want to try contacting the Cedar Point staffing folks via email. I'm pretty sure there's a link to that email on the Cedar Point website. They could probably give you all sorts of info on the requirements. I think most of the mechanics are year-round employees, but I wouldn't be surprised if some seasonal people were hired, as well. (I knew a couple of the Arcade Maintenance folks, and they were year-round.)

If you're looking to become a mechanical engineer, a summer job as a ride mechanic might be viewed as some good experience. I know that a lot of companies like mechanical engineers who have gotten their hands dirty with practical application, rather than just learning about the theory in school. The ride ops would not get the same type of experience with the mechanical aspects of the ride, although it could still provide a position to see some of those mechanical aspects up close. It might even be a good start, as it may provide an opportunity to talk to the mechanics, and they might then be able to help you see more of the mechanical operation of the rides. However, just how good a start it would be would largely be up to you -- how well you pursue speaking to the maintenance folks and trying to learn about the mechanics of the ride -- and a bit of luck.

[RCT2head]

ok...
i am going to be a life gaurd, and a mecahnic isn'ts something i could readily do yet... does anyone know BGW's corporate page?

[BorisTheFish]

http://www.becjobs.com/ <<< is that the sort of thing you want?

[RCT2head]

yeah, that'd be it, thanks

[Digicub]

Great posts ( as always ) Harpo.

When I was 8 years old I decided in my heart of hearts ( after a ride on the ancient Scenic Railway on Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach UK with my father ) that what I wanted to be more than anything was to be a Roller Coaster Designer / Engineer / Imagineer.

I studied very hard in Engineering and Technical Drawing / Illustration until leaving school at 16 when, after a lot of study into how to actually realise my dream, I came to the conclusion that it was less than a 1% chance I would ever be given a chance to work in one of the major global design firms who make coasters & theme park rides...well *sniff* I sorta got 'over' it eventually. It wasn't that I was not 100% dedicated to working towards my dream, just that it is so hard to get your foot in the door at these companies.

I dunno, I'm 35 this year and maybe it's changed nowadays. if i had the chance again I'd go for it - email and post all of the big name companies asking for advice. Believe in yourself and study hard, you can make your dreams come true...

Anyway it's not a sad story because I went into a career in my other passion - Fine Art & Graphic Design. I got my Masters Degree with Honours, and went into Digital Imaging, then Web Design and New Media. I love working in a creative career that allows me to express myself and also play Half-life 2 Deathmatch every lunch hour, dribble cookie crumbs all over my keyboard and download banging Techno MP3 mixes all day long.

I still have my passion for coasters, theme parks and thrill rides - and inflict it every summer on my partner, family and friends by dragging some of them half-way around the world to stand in line for 2 hours so that I can scream my nipples off on some thrill machine... ( Cedar Point, you watch out next year...)

In 1999 I was surfing some of the Coaster Sites when I stumbled upon a new game called Rollercoaster Tycoon....'Hmmm, I wonder if it lets you actually design them?' ...I wondered...

6 years later and I've sorta realised my design dream, I can tinker away building the parks and rides of my dreams on my PC. Building what, in another time and place, if I'd had my way, would've been real places with my rides and coasters packed with happy, joyous, screaming peeps!

Thank you Chris Sawyer and David Braben for helping me to realise at least a part of what I wished to become when I was 8 years old holding my Father's hand on that sunny, beautiful beach on the England coast - staring up at that big, big lift hill rising up into the blue sky....

[coasterdude89]

Originally posted by Bluestrike2
Yeah!

A fellow XC runner!

Nothing like a 5k!

Yep. I love to run. I am a hurdler right now on track, but and was going to do distance but had to teach everyone else how to hurdle, so by the time that I had a chance behind them, edurance wise! How fast do you run the 5K? This year was my first year on X-cross country and my fastest time was 21 something! Not that good, but good enough to knock some people down from other teams!

[Ryboxl]

D*****T!:mad: :down: I didn't think that becoming a coaster engineer would be that difficult! @%*%#%^^&! Well, I'll still try, and If I fail, on to imagineering!

[2005]

i'm studying (well not now obviosuly!) for an engineering degree now and its tough. if your not fairly good at math i wouldn't recommend it becasue the maths is so difficult.