Student ProjectsRide Engineering Competition
Project Manager
Kayla Youhanaie
Theme Park Engineering & Design
Amount Requested
$5,000
Summary
TPED would like to compete in the Ride Engineering Competition, a prestigious nationwide competition between universities that involves designing and building a working model of a theme park ride that fits the competition’s specifications, theme, and parameters. The build cycle for this competition will last two quarters, spanning the Fall 2026 and Winter 2027 quarters. Participating in this competition will give our club members unique engineering experience in the theme park industry, an opportunity to hone technical skills in mechanical, electrical, and computer science engineering, and professional development opportunities at the final, in-person competition stage.
During the first phase of this project, we will collaborate on the design of a novel theme park attraction that both meets competition requirements and offers a creative, novel design and experience for the attraction riders. During the second phase, we will build a working model of our attraction, including mechanical and structural components, electrical wiring of actuators, motors, and microcontrollers, and software programming to control the system and program the attraction’s motion profile and ride cycle. In the final phase, our club will travel to the in-person phase of the competition, where we will present our results to industry professionals.
Moreover, this is the first time Northwestern’s Theme Park Engineering & Design Club will be officially competing in this competition, so the opportunity to do so will give our club members a new and invaluable experience.
In addition to this main project, the remainder of the requested funding will be used for additional travel and admittance to other theme park and engineering conferences, such as the ASTM conference. Attending these conferences will give our club members insights into the professional theme park industry as well as an opportunity to learn about emerging technologies being used in the industry. They will also provide unparalleled networking opportunities for our club members to learn directly from and connect with industry experts.
Planned Activities/Investments
To begin this project, we will brainstorm ideas for novel theme park attractions and create a detailed engineering design for our attraction, including both technical engineering and creative theming.
After this initial phase, we will then spend the majority of our time constructing a working model of our theme park attraction. This will involve mechanically manufacturing the ride vehicle and attraction structure. It will also involve electrically wiring all motors, actuators, batteries, control panels, and microcontrollers to operate the ride. Lastly, it will require us to write code to program the microcontrollers that control the motors and actuators and create the attraction’s motion profile.
The final planned activity and investment will be traveling to the in-person competition finale, which will be an unparalleled opportunity for professional development, theme park industry networking, and formal presentation experience. At this stage of the competition, we will demonstrate the operation of our attraction model to a panel of industry judges, showcasing our model’s novelty, manufacturability, and robustness.
Impact
This project and traveling to additional conferences will impact Northwestern’s Theme Park Engineering & Design club members, as it will provide them with a unique and new opportunity to grow as engineers and as professionals. We will evaluate this impact by asking our club members for feedback on what they learned, both technical skills and professional development, at the end of the project. We may also evaluate the impact of these experiences on club members based on industry outcomes, as the experiences may assist our club members in obtaining industry opportunities such as internships, jobs, and networking connections within the theme park industry and beyond.
Deliverables
The main deliverable for this project will be our physical, working model of the theme park attraction we designed, which will be able to continuously run ride cycles. We will also meticulously document our process, demonstrating technical writing skills and proof of meeting engineering standards. After the conclusion of this project, our working attraction model may be used in future club displays during recruiting events.
Previous Project
This is a new project for our club, as it will be our first time competing in the Ride Engineering Competition.
Budget Overview
- Project materials: Arduino microcontrollers, servo motors, electrical components (switches, transducers, LEDs) - $1,000
- Travel expenses to competition finale: flights, hotel, transportation - $2,000
- Additional conference admission and travel expenses: flights, hotels, admission tickets - $2,000
Total Budget Amount: $5,000
Matching Funds
None
Faculty Adviser/Department
Ilya Mikhelson/Electrical and Computer Engineering