Dayton Engineer

By Katherine Klem, marketing communications intern

Imaginations is an annual design competition sponsored by the Walt Disney Corporation to promote and foster the next generation of theme park designers or “imagineers.” This year’s competition, with a theme of ancient or natural wonders of the world, included an entry from a diverse team of University of Dayton students.  

Electrical engineering student, Mary Ellen Graebner, has worked as a parking attendant at Walt Disney World’s Epcot theme park and has been intrigued with the stories and outcomes of Imaginations for the past few years. Last fall, she was inspired to create a team to come up with a design for this year’s competition.

University of Dayton students, Sophia Palmer (engineering), Nicholas Carducci (engineering and entrepreneur) and Alyssa Ramstetter (design), teamed up with Graebner to enter the 2018 Imaginations competition. This year’s prompt was to design and make accessible an ancient or natural wonder of the world that could be experienced by tourists, families, colleagues or others from a diverse set of backgrounds.

The team was inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the fabled story of King Nebuchadnezzar II and his wife Amytis, who missed her homeland, so her husband re-created the rolling hills and valleys of her native Medes (present day Iran).

“The team’s goal was to create a place where people from all walks of life can come together and enjoy the simple commonalities of life,” Graebner said.

After months of tireless efforts, the team’s final design was compiled and sent to Disney for review. The final design, the Arcadia, included interactive whimsical playscapes, a quieter Amytis’ garden, an outdoor tea house with garden and a grand marketplace. The Arcadia would be within a climate-controlled dome to allow a comfortable guest experience.

The team advanced to the semi-finals and gained a wealth of experience from this competition. Among the many lessons the team learned were time management, making quick decisions and how to be an invaluable teammate. Lastly, the team notes the importance of incorporating their technical classroom lessons to the out-of-the-box components of the Imaginations competition.