career-civil engineer

In my 8th grade careers class we have to do a project, and I'm doing it on civil engineers. I got a lot of info (not just coasters). Does anyone know what kind of schooling/preparation to get this job ex)college ?? years with a bachelor degree in ??. Does anyone know and is this the job to design coasters?

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221' drop on SROS is more like 8000'
www.geocities.com/yankeesfan1127/EastCoasterDatabase.html

When I was in 8th grade I had to do a similiar project and I also did mine on Civil Engineering. If your from Ohio, we have several great engineering schools! Ohio State University, Ohio University, University of Toledo, to name a few.

I don't really know if this is the job to design coasters, but I do know that Structural Engineers do play a major part in building rides.

I know a few schools that have roller coaster engineering.

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Touch The Sky

B&R Chiller, could you state them if you know?

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221' drop on SROS is more like 8000'
www.geocities.com/yankeesfan1127/EastCoasterDatabase.html

B&R-The Chiller What schools offer rollercoaster engineering? I never knew there was any around.

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Mike
Favorite Wood: Viper at SFGAM, Shivering Timbers
Favorie Steel: Magnum and Raging Bull

Well one I know is Monmouth University. I know that Roller Coaster engineering is going to be my minor.

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Touch The Sky

where the heck is monmouth?

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221' drop on SROS is more like 8000'
www.geocities.com/yankeesfan1127/EastCoasterDatabase.html

Actually civil engineering might not be what you need to be looking at if you want to someday design roller coasters. I am have an apprenticeship with an engineering company at the moment and it is defiantly not to do with roller coasters. Civil engineers manly do transportation (roads and parking lots). If you want some schools for engineering search at www.collegeboard.com. All my life I have wanted to design roller coasters but I am slowly realizing that you will have to take a major in mechanical engineering and a minor in electoral engineering. Also you might want to getting a business minor because you will not get hired any where without some business background. I have since decided to major in Architecture at Southern Poly Tech and minor in business at Georgia Tech. I have already been excepted to poly Tech and plan on spending 6 years there but for know I just want to do something in design of theme parks now. Also if you are serious about this then know you should have really great math skills. Because that is all engineering is MATH MATH MATH!

Monmouth University is in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
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You are bold, but are you also...daring?

Yep, Mech E is the way to go. But be prepared to go all the way through Calculous and a lot of Static physics!

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Is it the roar of Kumba or the kumba of Roar? Discuss!

There is no 'roller coaster' engineering. If I am wrong, I want a link. Monmouth is where baseball players go to. You can major in Structural, and minor in Mechanical, but you need a job in a maintenence division to get the experience. No one is really hired off the street. You may have ran across a class called 'roller coaster' engineering.

There only a few dozen jobs in the US that emply designers. Most engineers in the ride business have other specialities. Only a few are assigned to design, and then they are in the field on repairs, or finding suppliers for parts.

The best bet is to do Structural or Mechanical, and minor in Electrical, as all parks are in need of good electricians. It is job security.

Not too much that I can add to what Agent Johnson said. AS AJ said guys who know the inside of a programmable logic controller (and how to program it) are always in demand, and not just for amusement parks.

You might want to look at Consign AG's web site to get a better idea about getting into roller coaster work. They discuss this. Consign is the company that does the controls for B&M and GCI. They also do industrial controls.

Going back to any early question that was asked, most civil engineers have 4 year college degrees in either civil engineering or structural engineering. A master degree in civil or an MBA can be an additional help.

so if i wanted to design roller coasters, what degrees would i need?

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221' drop on SROS is more like 8000'
www.geocities.com/yankeesfan1127/EastCoasterDatabase.html

You would probably need an engineering degree of some sort. Beyond that it's all going to be based on experience.

Pick one or more of these degrees... (probably just one - as college degrees tend to be quite expensive): Mechanical Engineering (equipment design, train, brake design, etc), Electrical Engineering (logic, computer systems), Civil Engineering with Structural emphasis (support and foundation design)

Probably your best bet would be Mechanical (or Aerospace, which is a branch of Mechanical)

Other areas to consider (which do not require a degree): steel construction, welding, carpentery, maitenance.

However, all the engineers, construction workers, etc. are designing the PARTS that make up a roller coaster. As far as the actual "roller coaster designer" (the person who decides where the track goes, how high the hill is, etc.)... there are probably only about 10 - 20 of these people in the whole world (and I don't know if any of them even have degrees at all... they may just be doing it from experience)

Seriously now, how many jobs are there in the US designing coasters? I'd say 150 MAX. I'd love to be an astronaut, but then reality sunk in so I became a biologist.

Aerospace (more specifically Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering) is NOT a branch of Mechanical. Well, not at *real* schools anyway. Aero, while very similar to Mechanical, is its own stand-alone program.
lata,
jeremy: BSAAE UIUC 1999
--who is in a MSME program with a concentration in Aerospace studies :) (but HU isnt exactly as 'high up' as UIUC anyway...)

Would having a background with coasters help?

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221' drop on SROS is more like 8000'
www.geocities.com/yankeesfan1127/EastCoasterDatabase.html

Hoatyl....would HU mean Howard U??

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Baby, I'm not always there when you call, but I'm always on time.

Yeah that one. Or as they are want to say on campus "The *real* HU" :)

Lovely women here though...
jeremy
--who notes that Hampton is pretty stacked in the female department as well ;)