Professional Documents
Culture Documents
T: 412.268.8346
F: 412.268.3590
Master of Entertainment creative-enterprises@andrew.cmu.edu
Industry Management www.artsnet.org
93.771 Entertainment Engineering Workshop
14|15 November 2008 1 unit
John W. Wesner, PhD, PE
Master of Arts Adjunct Fellow, ICES, Mechanical Engineering, and ETC
Management
What is the role of Engineering in the Entertainment industry? What roles do engineers play in creating
entertainment experiences?
This workshop begins with an overview answer to these two questions. How do engineers contribute to
Center for Arts creating a superlative Total Guest Experience? How do engineers help entertainment venues serve their
Management and customers? What roles do design engineers fill in creating experiences to meet these needs?
Technology
We next take a look at some of the psychological factors that lead guests to seek out various entertainment
experiences.
The second day things get more specific, as we look at exactly where and how engineers contribute to the live
theater and to movies. Animatronics is very much engineering driven. How do engineers put the “thrill” into
Arts and Culture
thrill rides, from roller coasters to flume rides. Our final stop will be to consider modern simulator rides, and
Observatory how they endeavor to bring some of the same thrills in less space and for far less capital investment.
The course starts off with some pre‐reading in a fun “text.” Sessions are punctuated by several videos, a fun
“interest and preference” quiz, and a demonstration of very special computer roller coaster modeling
software.
Why should you care about Entertainment Engineering? It will serve you well to understand the scope of
things these crazy engineers can do for you, to help create ever more exciting and engaging guest experiences.
Background
This workshop is the outgrowth of a course I created for Mechanical Engineering students in 2003. The idea of
the course was to demonstrate the broad range of opportunities for Mechanical Engineers in the many areas
of the entertainment industry. The culmination of the experience was for the class to create, construct,
operate, and take down a small Spring Carnival midway booth. This truly exposed them to the concept of
creating a total guest experience. Over time, a number of Drama and Entertainment Technology students
enrolled in the course. The last time we offered it we also had one Master of Entertainment Industry
Management student.
What motivated me to do this? Since I was small I have liked amusement parks. One of my early annual
birthday presents was to be taken by my parents to our local park, Olympic Park in Maplewood, New Jersey.
Evenings off from a summer job at a Boy Scout Camp were spent at Bertrand’s Island Amusement Park at Lake
Hopatcong., in northern New Jersey. Disneyland and Walt Disney World have entranced me ever since my
first visit to Disneyland in 1959 when it was only four years old. I was out in California in grad school at
Caltech. During my career with Bell Laboratories I managed to fit visits to theme parks and amusement parks
into business trips around the United States. Membership I n the American Coaster Enthusiasts heightened
the excitement. The final drivers that led me to create the course came after I had come to Carnegie Mellon
to teach—to share my product development experiences. I had the good fortune to make behind‐the‐scenes
visits to Kennywood and to the Chosky Theater in Carnegie Mellon’s Purnell Center. I also brought a Walt
Disney Imagineer to Pittsburgh to give a Mechanical Engineering Dept. seminar, to talk about his work
designing rides. I realized that behind much of the excitement of these places was good, solid engineering.
IMCE is a collaboration of the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management and the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University
Entertainment Engineering Workshop
14|15 November 2008
The workshop runs nine hours, in three three‐hour sessions, each including a 10‐minute break:
Friday 14 November from 1.00p to 4.00p and Saturday 15 November from 9.00a to 12.00n and 1.00p to 4.00p.
Friday 14 November Saturday 15 November
I. Session IA III. Session IIA
A. Welcome; Introductions A. Attracting and Keeping customers
B. Introduction B. The Theater
1. Overview C. The Movies: LOTR Video
2. Why “Entertainment Engineering”
3. Video IV. Session IIB
C. “Total Guest Experience” A. More Movies
D. “Customers” 1. Engineered Special Effects; Digital Effects
E. The Designer’s Job 2. Similitude
B. Animatronics
II. Session IB 1. Animatronics
A. Student Favorites 2. Video
B. Psychology: Sensation Seeking 3. Control
Lunch
V. Session IIIA
A. What Makes a Ride Thrilling?
B. Safety
C. Roller Coasters
1. What creates thrills?
2. Industry Trends
3. “No Limits” Demo
VI. Session IIIB
A. Other “Dry” Rides
B. Water Rides
C. Simulator Rides
D. Wrap Up
Pre‐Workshop Preparation:
One page paper (single‐spaced, 11 Calibri/Arial) describing your favorite entertainment activities.
Read selections from text (TBA)
Textbook: Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real.
Paperback. ISBN 0‐7868‐8372‐3; $30 list
John W. Wesner, PE
John Wesner teaches Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, affiliated with the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems,
the Mechanical Engineering Department, and the Entertainment Technology Center. He has been with Carnegie Mellon since
the fall of 2000. John received his BS and his Ph.D. from Carnegie’s Mechanical Engineering Department, and his MS in
Mechanical Engineering from Caltech.
Retired from Lucent Technologies Bell Laboratories, John’s interests are in many aspects of Engineering Design, especially
Product Development and improvement of Product Development Processes. His 35+ year industry career, which included stints
at IBM and at Westinghouse Atomic Power, focused on doing and managing Product Design. At Bell Labs, John also gained
experience managing development projects using formal project management methods, and coordinating R&D quality
improvement through process management. He is co‐author of the book Winning with Quality: Applying Quality Principles to
Product Development.
Teaching satisfies John’s long‐term desire to share his engineering experiences.
John is very involved with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He currently is ASME Vice President for Programs and
Activities; during 1996‐99 he served as ASME Vice President for Systems and Design
Outside of his profession, John is a passionate (and published) model railroader, a strategy gamer, and a 50+‐year Boy Scout—
an Eagle Scout who has received the BSA Silver Beaver Award for distinguished service to youth.
John W. Wesner
Adjunct Fellow, Institute for Complex Engineered Systems
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213‐3890, USA
Phone: 412‐268‐2507
FAX: 412‐268‐5229
wesnerj@andrew.cmu.edu