CONFERENCE TRIPS
Professional conferences are held every year all around the world. These conferences are an extremely vital step to get your feet wet within the themed entertainment industry. They allow you to see just how large the industry is.
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Every year, TPEG sends some of our members to different conferences across the country that relate to the theme park industry. These conference provide our student body the best networking opportunities possible with industry professionals. They also allow us to learn new information about the industry, and keep up with interesting trends. We often attend IAPPA, ASTM, SATE and SKYnext. We generally conduct interviews with all of our members who are interested in attending the respective conferences, and go through a selection process to help them decide which one best suits them. We look forward to seeing all our friends and alumni at the conferences! |
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PROFESSIONAL DESIGNS
Since the creation of our club, we have had a few projects which were commissioned by members of the amusement park industry. We thank them for their support of our club and the opportunities they provided.
Kennywood's Thunderbolt Headlight Restoration
An iconic element of an iconic roller coaster, redesigned for the twenty-first century.
An iconic element of an iconic roller coaster, redesigned for the twenty-first century.
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The Thunderbolt roller coaster at Kennywood in West Mifflin, PA currently runs three trains built by the National Amusement Device Company (NAD). The trains used to be equipped with on-board headlights as seen in the image on the left. Vibrations and fatigue eventually led to the headlights' removal.
In the fall of 2013, Penn State TPEG proposed the use of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting for the two headlights near the top of the train's front end. Chris Duarte designed three front grilles with the signature Thunderbolt 'T' (one for each train) which will be machined and installed front and center of the train. As of 2014, our design is implemented on the Thunderbolt. |
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Conneaut Lake Park Revitalization
Revitalizing an iconic park and an iconic attraction, right in our backyard!
Revitalizing an iconic park and an iconic attraction, right in our backyard!
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In July and August of 2013, Penn State TPEG was asked to be a part of the volunteer effort to revitalize Conneaut Lake Park in Conneaut Lake, PA. The park opened in 1892 and went through a series of ownership changes and closings. Penn State TPEG worked with Chris Gray from Great Coasters International, as well as with the park's staff, to help create a new haunted walk-through attraction for the Ghost Lake Halloween event. Penn State TPEG also assisted with other projects in the park, such as revitalizing the Devil's Den attraction, repainting the park's entrance and re-assembling the Blue Streak's train after it had been taken apart and reupholstered. |
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COURSE PROJECTS
Members of Penn State Theme Park Engineering Group have used projects assigned in classes to further explore industry issues. We have also had a few members use their senior thesis to elaborate on various fields in the themed entertainment industry.
Kinetic Analysis and Simulation of The Crazy Couch Ride
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TPEG member Nicholas Papavizas, performed an amazing kinematic analysis and simulation of Skyline Attraction's Crazy Couch ride as a project for ME 581, "Simulation of Mechanical Systems". He also presented this project to the student body, and demonstrated the process it took to create such a simulation. |
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Load Analysis of a Roller Coaster's Chain Dog
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Co-founder and former member Christian Noveral performed a detailed static load analysis of a roller coaster's "chain dog" as a project for EMCH 461, "Finite Elements in Engineering"
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