Engineering a Day at the (Theme) Park
As a member of a military family, Dennis Velez moved a lot throughout his childhood, but no matter where they lived, whether it was Jacksonville, Florida, or Yokosuka, Japan, the nearest theme park always felt like home.
Velez never tired of the thrill of a roller coaster and other attractions, but the more parks he visited, the more interested he became in their design and operation — most memorably as an elementary school student during a trip to Tokyo Disneyland.
"The more I learned, the more I realized that it's one of the craziest engineering problems you can have. Sending people on these attractions that go for hours on end every single day of the year, they have to be perfectly safe and perfectly designed to make sure they can run efficiently and give the same experience to every guest every day," he said.
Velez arrived at Georgia Tech in 2021 as a mechanical engineering student. He quickly earned the nickname "safety guy" in the Theme Park Engineering Design Club, as he continued to narrow his focus and determine how to use his major in the industry.
"There are insane ideas for rides and how they are supposed to make you feel — like you're flying on a broomstick or traveling through space,” he said. “So, how can we leverage technology that exists to reflect that idea, make sure it works as intended, and run it safely?”
Velez became Georgia Tech's first student representative on the ASTM Committee F24 on Amusement Rides and Devices — a global organization that develops standards and best practices for theme park attractions. Completing internships with Oceaneering's entertainment systems division and Universal Studios, he learned the project management skills to see an idea come to fruition and better understand the teamwork required to execute its delivery.
"When you're an engineer, you're never working on your own. You're always working with a lot of people, and you have to make sure that you can work well with others and integrate your skills with your team,” he said.
Velez sees that same principle of interconnectedness in his role as a trumpet player in the Yellow Jacket Marching Band.
"If you mess up as one of 40 trumpets, people may not notice because other members are there to hold you up. It's another aspect of uniformity and connectedness in a group, and it starts with having a strong connection. For the band, that comes from doing something we love for our school and getting in the heads of the opposing teams at the same time," he said.
His extracurricular activities and internships took him to new places during his undergraduate degree program, but Velez calls the trip to Ireland to kick off the 2024 college football season his "magnum opus" and an experience he'll remember for a lifetime.
Velez will return to campus in the fall to pursue a master's in mechanical engineering before entering the industry. While he admits there were stressful days along the way, he never viewed his time as an undergraduate as a roller coaster, but rather a day at the park.
"Theme parks were always our happy place because we were together as a family, and I'm just excited to one day see the reactions of kids and their families experiencing a ride that I worked on, and giving them that same sense of wonder," he said. “This industry is all about bringing joy to others, and I want to do my part in creating this outlet for all to enjoy."