Wesner Workshop 08

Entertainment Engineering

A Workshop

Friday and Saturday, November 14-15, 2008

(Friday 1-4, Saturday 9-4)

(location TBA)

(Course 93-771)

Instructor:

John Wesner, PE

Adjunct Fellow

Institute for Complex Engineered Systems

Entertainment Engineering? Why would anyone want to think about the pleasurable world of Entertainment and the staid world of Engineering in the same discussion?

Whether it was George Washington Ferris devising his Great Wheel for Chicago’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, Ed Morgan and Karl Bacon inventing the steel roller coaster to go inside of Disneyland’s Matterhorn, or Walt Disney’s Imagineers creating a realistic animated Abraham Lincoln for the 1964 World’s Fair on Long Island, engineering has stretched the boundaries for entertainment. Just how do you keep the water where you want it in a flume ride, or make people believe they are riding an interplanetary rocket without leaving their seats in a small room?

Looking from the other side, the entertainment industry is a major career field that not many engineers know much about, that has the potential to be challenging, exciting, and lots of fun. But just what can engineers do for this industry? And what are the ”big issues” for engineers working in the entertainment industry?

The Workshop content builds on the instructor’s experiences behind the scenes at Carnegie Mellon’s Chosky Theater, on behind-the-scenes visits at Kennywood and Walt Disney World, on a pair of short courses he took from the Walt Disney World education center (“Disney University”), and on discussions with several experienced engineers in the business.

Throughout the Workshop, the participants will peek behind a variety of entertainment media and attractions, where they will see the usually hidden engineered devices and schemes that are essential parts of bringing the excitement or pleasure to the entertained guests.