After months of dedicated teamwork and careful coordination, our REC team was able to secure a 1st place victory with our jungle-themed model roller coaster, Jammin’ Jungle, in the 2023 Ride Engineering Competition. The Ride Engineering Competition (REC) is an annual competition between universities from across the nation that offers students the invaluable opportunity to demonstrate real-world engineering practices within the industry focus of ride construction and design.

As a part of the 2023 REC challenge, students were tasked with developing a model roller coaster ride featuring a designated start and finish location. Our submission took the form of an exhilarating wild mouse coaster that takes riders in a ladybug themed vehicle on a downhill dash past the lush trees and swinging monkeys of an action packed jungle. The entire track was constructed with sturdy welded steel and a robust system of angular, branching supports, inspired by Wonder Woman Flight of Courage at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The vehicle boasts a sleek and compact 3D-modeled chassis, drawing inspiration from popular rides like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Disney World and Transformers: The Ride 3D at Universal Studios Hollywood.

This accomplishment was the culmination of a collaborative effort between our Mechanical, Controls, and Standards sub-teams, all under the exemplary leadership of our project manager, Tim Jain. It was a hard-fought victory, with many late nights, countless design/manufacturing challenges, and a journey spanning over 2,000 miles to transport our coaster to the competition in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the end, we managed to successfully operate the ride for six straight hours and astound the industry judges, resulting in us winning 1st place in both the Overall and Technical Writing categories. To celebrate this well-deserved victory, some of our REC team members even had the chance to ride full-scale roller coasters at the Carowinds amusement park.