[wzslider info=”true” lightbox=”true”]
A panel of five members from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) spoke to a crowd of mostly engineering students about working in an industry that includes theme parks and casinos.
Union’s department of engineering hosted a TEA Experience Café that included a presentation, question and answer session and refreshments.
Among those on the panel were Steven Birket, TEA International President; Brad Nelms, systems integrator at 4Wall Entertainment; Kelly Devine from Hnedak Bobo Group; Sylvia Matiko, principal at A Different View and Tom King, a Union alumnus and senior staff engineer for Birket Engineering.
King, who graduated from Union in 1960, received a bachelor of science in physics while studying at the old campus in downtown Jackson.
Now living in Florida, King has worked most notably on NASA programs, namely the Apollo 7 mission, as well as various projects for Walt Disney World.
Each of the other panelists gave a background of their work history that included jobs with Universal Studios to local aquariums to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! to resorts in the Middle East and Asia.
The presenters showed many ways students of all degrees could participate in the themed entertainment industry.
“We like to tell students, ‘You aren’t your degree’,” Birket said.
He believes that as long students are passionate about themed entertainment, they will be able to find a job in the field.
According to Devine, working in the industry means students will be “producing fun for other people.”
“You get paid to ride rollercoasters,” Matiko responded, resulting in several laughs.
Jeannette Russ, professor of engineering and department chair, says the event served to encourage students to think creatively about what to do after graduation.
“We like to expose our students to a variety of areas,” she said.
Russ also noted King, who serves on the Engineering Advisory Council at Union, was instrumental in bringing the speakers together and setting up the event.
King encouraged students to never stop learning by quoting a proverb: “Yesterday I met a man with a dollar. We exchanged dollars. We both left with one dollar. Today, I met a man with an idea. We exchanged ideas. We both parted with two ideas. Tomorrow, I shall seek the latter.”
