Michigan Theme Park Engineering & Design: A C-SED Lab Spotlight

Comprised of students from a multitude of disciplines, Michigan Theme Park Engineering & Design (TPED) is a student-led co-curricular team that creates projects inspired by and contributing to the themed entertainment industry. 

This student organization has been active since 2016 and offers its members the opportunity to interact with the themed entertainment industry through a variety of experiences. 

“We’re a niche industry blending engineering and arts,” explains President Jade Friedlis. “There are two sides to it: we have our industry prep and professional development side, and the other side is putting on these events on campus that are solely for the on-campus community.”

In the past, TPED has produced events including escape rooms, haunted houses, and a carnival of real-life iMessage games in collaboration with UMix.  Ultimately, TPED is dedicated to ideating and creating experiences that inspire fun and community. 

But it’s not all fun and games on campus; it’s also fun and games in the industry.  

Michigan Theme Park Engineering & Design regularly engages with the industry that many of its members aspire to join. From attending the Toronto Metropolitan University Thrill Design Competition in Orlando, Florida, to interacting with industry professionals and suppliers at the ASTM International, this student group displays a true passion for integrating their coursework in real contexts. 

The Origin of The Flipping Flight of the Fantastical Fez

In the 2024-2025 academic year, TPED registered for the Ride Engineering Competition (REC) at Ohio State University – a competition designed for students to apply their coursework in a real-life scenario of a themed entertainment professional. 

Though this would be their first year participating, Jade and the rest of the TPED team were confident that their past experience would enable them to give it their best shot.  

For the April 2025 competition,  each team was asked to design a flat ride (which is a ride that remains largely parallel to the ground) that met all of REC’s specifications –such as including an acceleration of 2G, designing procedures to test the acceleration, including an emergency stop, and creating a story.  

With roughly 3 months ahead of them and the excitement for their first appearance at REC growing, TPED searched for a space to meet, build, and test their design for their ride. 

That’s when one of their members recommended the C-SED Lab –  a collaborative design and project laboratory where students convene to learn, make, and build community. 

Collaborating with the C-SED Lab 

For several members of TPED’s multidisciplinary team, their trip to the C-SED Lab was their first time setting foot in GG Brown. But upon exploring all of the tools and offerings of the collaborative space, Jade Friedlis realized that the space was exactly what TPED needed.  

 “One of the great things about it was just the space to be able to try things, have them fail, and then being able to do something else,” described Friedlis. “And having something there that was available 24/7 was huge.”

Student groups who utilize the C-SED Lab are encouraged to explore tools such as woodshop machinery, 3D Printing, Sewing & Embroidery, and Soldering & Electronics. 

For TPED, the access to the controls components, the Arduino board, as well as the knowledge of the C-SED Lab Managers and Assistants were particularly helpful in their design process. 

“Having someone there to bounce ideas off of, who just knows so much more than me but was so willing to help out and seemed genuinely interested in our project, was awesome,” describes Friedlis, who then adds a special shout-out to C-SED Staff member and Design Science PhD student, Peter Fabe! 

With mini models of their ride surrounding the C-SED Lab tables, TPED was free to ideate, develop, build, and test their design again and again as they saw fit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Socially Engaged Design in themed entertainment 

In addition to designing for the given requirements of acceleration, rotational degrees of freedom, and experienced change in height, Michigan Theme Park Engineering & Design also considered the accessibility of their ride. 

At the core of the Center for Socially Engaged Engineering & Design is the integration of sociotechnical design practices through active stakeholder collaboration, consideration, and engagement. 

In their work, TPED also creates their designs based on the experience of their stakeholders and considers aspects that may have been previously overlooked in the themed entertainment industry. 

 As the industry increasingly emphasizes creating accessible designs for people of all abilities and sizes, TPED prioritizes passenger accessibility in its work – from creating restraints that accommodate a range of body types to considering mobility capabilities and the experience of those with sensory disabilities. 

“Our designs are for everyone – they’re not just for one type of person – and we’re constantly thinking about that in everything we do,” explains Friedlis. “We think about how we can accommodate hard-of-hearing or partially sighted guests, and make sure that they can not only take part in the experience, but have a valuable experience.”

With all of these considerations at the center of their process, TPED is able to create experiences for all.  

Presenting: The Flipping Flight of the Fantastical Fez 

In April 2025, Michigan Theme Park Engineering & Design finally presented their design: a flat ride aptly named “The Flipping Flight of the Fantastical Fez.”

Said to have been designed by one of the Wicked Witch of the West’s flying monkeys, the Flipping Flight of the Fantastical Fez is a flat ride that features a swinging pendulum in which riders experience three different directions of movement.

After bringing the Flipping Flight of the Fantastical Fez to the Ohio State University, the competition began. In the end, the Flipping Flight of the Fantastical Fez operated for about six hours with 36 Starburst passengers for every  42-second cycle.  It featured two independently controlled motors, customized individual restraints, and a “flying monkey” operating the ride. 

While their ride ran, TPED marveled at the creativity around them. 

Friedlis describes the experience, saying, “It’s a little bit of chaos, but it’s a lot of fun to see all the other teams come in, because you haven’t seen all these other designs all the other ways that they’ve approached this.”

The six members of TPED who attended the event received third place amongst the nine first-year teams  – an achievement that left them rightfully proud. 

If TPED chooses to return to the Ride Engineering Competition again, the Center for Socially Engaged Engineering & Design would be more than happy to house models of mini rollercoasters once more.  

 

What’s next?

The ever-creative Theme Park Engineering & Design has a lot in the works – most notably, their Haunted House, which welcomed brave souls on October 17th from 7-10 pm in the Lurie Bell Tower. 

“I’m very excited for this upcoming haunted house because I think that we’ll be able to do a lot more with the effects we make now that we are able to use C-SED,” explains Fredlis. Especially coming from a controls perspective!” 

Even if you don’t have the heart to explore TPED’s Haunted House, they have several projects in the works that will surely bring a smile to your face.  

To stay updated with all TPED’s happenings, follow them @tpedum on Instagram, or Theme Park Engineering and Design – University of Michigan on LinkedIn. 

Interested in joining? Well, they are always recruiting! All creatives or students interested in the themed entertainment industry are welcome, from mechanical engineering to art. Reach out to tpeduofm@gmail.com to hop on the ride.