Rowan team winner of Disney Imagineering's ImagiNations Competition

The mouse has spoken.

A Rowan University-sponsored student team took the top award in the annual Walt Disney Imagineering ImagiNations Design Competition held in June at Imagineering headquarters in Glendale, Ca.

The ImagiNations Design Competition is a program designed and sponsored by Walt Disney Imagineering to encourage university students to consider careers in creative and technical fields including digital arts, engineering and architecture.

First place and “best in show” was awarded to students David Lester, of Rowan; Elissa Hogan; Vincent J. Logozio; and Raymond Scanlon. While sponsored by Rowan University, team participants came together from Rowan University, Rutgers University and The College of New Jersey. The members’ project, “Disney’s Spaceport,” is a complete and highly interactive theme park set in the mid-28th century, with an entirely original storyline and characters. Logozio also was awarded the Marty Sklar Award for overall outstanding achievement in creativity, innovation and leadership. In addition, all four of the students have been offered internships.

Second place was awarded to North Carolina State University’s “Mickey’s Quest To Magma Mountain,” a motion simulator thrill ride that features a circular seating arrangement for an immersive 360-degree, 3D experience. California State University at Fullerton garnered third place for “Operation SNAP: Destination Dragon.” This attraction is an action/adventure ride utilizing mounted cameras that follows the story of an absent-minded professor in search of a legendary Chinese dragon.

Eleven college students from three universities were finalists in Walt Disney Imagineering’s 18th ImagiNations Design Competition. ImagiNations is a program designed and sponsored by Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative arm of all Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide. Teams demonstrate their creative, technical, artistic and business skills by designing a ride, attraction, hotel or a land within an existing Disney theme park or resort. Participants work for several months on their concepts and presentations, which are evaluated by a team of Imagineers in California. This year more than 130 teams from around the world submitted entries for competition.

The university of each finalist team received a $1,000 grant from Walt Disney Imagineering.

“The idea behind ImagiNations is to identify and bring in a new and diverse talent base to Walt Disney Imagineering,” said Marty Sklar, executive vice president, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts and Imagineering Ambassador, who started the program in 1991. “We’re looking for people from universities and professional organizations with different backgrounds and cultures to better understand and reflect the diverse array of guests we entertain in our Disney Parks.”

The three teams of finalists visited Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale from June 2 to 11 to complete their projects, make professional presentations to the judging panel, interview for internships and participate in the awards ceremony.

While a position at Walt Disney Imagineering is often found on surveys of “dream jobs,” the company uses ImagiNations as a way to reach out to the widest possible talent pool for its future staff. All qualified applicants are considered for internships, and several finalists and a few non-finalists have been offered summer internships.

While the projects and concepts presented are not intended to be built by Disney, they are a way for the entrants to demonstrate their skill and creative abilities. In consideration for the opportunities provided by Imagineering, submissions become the sole property of Walt Disney Imagineering, and Imagineering retains all rights to use and/or display the submissions and the materials contained in them.

During their two weeks at Imagineering, the students met and networked with the technical and creative Imagineers responsible for Disney’s global theme parks and attractions located in California, Florida, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Disney Imagineers are famous for telling stories through fully dimensional and immersive attractions and experiences. The judges are looking in particular for the ability of technology, architecture, costumes, transportation, and attractions to support the story — and participants are advised to “begin with a great story before developing anything else.”

The judges apply the same criteria to the entries that they would to their own work — reviewing whether the concept is appealing, exciting, relevant and well researched; whether it provides an engaging guest experience; the technical and creative innovation; the quality of the presentation; and the ability of the attraction to demonstrate respect and inclusion for the array of families who visit Walt Disney Parks & Resorts all over the world.

These projects can take the form of artwork, illustrations, visuals, building designs (floor plans or elevations), storyboards, developed story treatments (models), computer graphics and/or video.

Walt Disney Imagineering

Walt Disney Imagineering is the unique innovative organization that creates — from concept through construction — all Disney theme parks, resorts, attractions, cruise ships, real estate devel¬opments, and regional entertainment venues worldwide. The name Imagineering combines imagination with engineering.

Imagineering’s unique strength comes from the teamwork and syntheses of creative and technical professionals representing more than 140 disciplines ,including artists,
architects, engineers, writers, machinists, landscape designers, model makers, sound technicians, carpenters, producers, accountants, filmmakers, schedulers, estimators and
more.

More Information about the ImagiNations competition can be found at http://disney.go.com/disneycareers/imaginations/.

Disney’s Spaceport – Rowan University

Disney’s Spaceport is a complete and highly interactive theme park set in the mid 28th century, with an entirely original storyline and characters. Guests are placed right into the story with the characters of the Spaceport universe roaming freely about the theme park.

Guests may find new abilities in themselves as they pilot their own virtual reality adventures, speed across asteroids in hover bike races, or compose original music.
Aside from providing immersive and interactive entertainment, the attractions of Spaceport were specifically designed to encourage teamwork and establish global connection. Guests will come away from Spaceport with a deeper understanding of innovative progress, and how we can achieve it together.

The Rowan team

Lester is a rising senior in Rowan University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering program. He is the recipient of a 200 Club Honors Scholarship and Rowan University Trustee Scholarship. It has always been his dream to get involved in electronics, computers and robotics. Lester is co-owner, concept designer, electrical and computer designer of IdeaQuest Studios. His hobbies include microcontroller and electronic system design, computer and board game design, bass guitar, filmmaking, creative writing and snowboarding. After graduating, he hopes to earn a master’s degree in robotics design, entertainment engineering or both.

Hogan is an art education major at the College of New Jersey. Logozio is a mechanical engineering major at Rutgers University. Scanlon is an electrical and computer engineering major at Rutgers University.