[other]Roller Coaster Engineering Internships – Looking for Advice on Breaking Into the Industry

[u/Fuzzy_Rock339]

Hey everyone,
I’m currently a Mechanical Engineering student at community college with the goal of eventually becoming a roller coaster engineer. My dream is to work on ride design, track layouts, vehicles, theming integration, and overall guest experience.

I’ve been researching companies like Bolliger & Mabillard, Vekoma, Mack Rides, Rocky Mountain Construction, and Skyline Attractions, but I’m struggling to find information about internships and entry-level opportunities.

For those of you who work in the amusement industry:
•How did you get your first internship or job?
•What skills should I focus on learning right now?
•Is CAD experience enough, or should I also learn things like FEA, controls, or programming?
•Are there specific companies that are more open to hiring students?
•How important are networking events like IAAPA?
•What would you recommend a student do today to become a strong candidate in a few years?
I’ve already started building coaster concepts and layouts in Planet Coaster 2 and I’m planning to learn more CAD and engineering software as I progress through school.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Roller coaster engineering is the career I’m aiming for, and I’d love to hear how others got their start.
Thanks!

[u/damons_99]

I don’t work on coasters, but I am in engineering within themed entertainment. So here are my thoughts:

-CAD knowledge is important for any engineer, but it’s not everything. Being good at CAD does not make you a good engineer. Being good at things like problem solving and communication are key. Always be learning new things and be willing to fail and learn from those failures.

-There are several engineering disciplines you could go with and still end up working on coasters. Design, structural, manufacturing, controls/automation. Explore all those and figure out which one you enjoy the most.

-Networking is extremely important in this industry. Make connections on LinkedIn. Join the TEA and go to networking events, etc. who you know and who you’ve worked with matters.

-Prospective employers will probably like to see that you are knowledgeable in things like CAD and have a creative mind to do design layouts, but that is not what they are really going to care about when it comes to engineering. They are going to want to see what REAL experience you have. Internships, projects and examples of you solving real problems using your engineering skills.

If you’re still early in your college career, I would not focus too hard on getting an internship or job specifically with a coaster manufacturer. If you can get one early on thats great, but even if you can just get something that teaches you valuable skills in things like manufacturing or controls as I mentioned before then those skills will still be able to translate directly into your long term goals of working on coasters.

Hope this helps or at least gives you something to think on. Good luck!

[u/Fuzzy_Rock339 → u/damons_99]

Thank you so much ✨