Engineering Inc. - January/February 2008 - (Page 4) NEWS & NotES Engineering feat: Cirque du Soleil’s O at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas features a 1.5-million-gallon water stage. ACEC Wins Multiple National Media Awards; Last Word and Engineering Inc. Praised I W. PE RRy CoNWay/Co Rb I S UNLV Offers First-Ever Entertainment Engineering and Design Degree n a national competition where more than 400 publications were entered for awards, ACEC has again received multiple honors. The Council’s weekly electronic newsletter, Last Word, earned a Silver Award. The newsletter has won first or second place six consecutive years, including three Gold Awards in the annual all-media contest sponsored by Association TRENDS. The Council’s new membership recruitment video, The Voice of the Engineering Industry, won a Bronze Award. The video was praised for its effective depiction of the importance and influence of ACEC. Engineering Inc. received a Bronze Award for its print edition and a Silver Award for its new digital version—making it a winner four of the last five years. ACEC’s Institute for Business Management Fall 2007 Course Catalog also earned a Silver Award. “ACEC consistently wins multiple awards each year in this competition—quite an accomplishment considering the number of associations and media products that are entered,” said Jill Martineau Cornish, president and publisher of Association TRENDS. “ACEC’s awards are a testament to the high quality of its publications and communications efforts.” du Soleil events as examples of state-of-the-art entertainment engineering. Canada-based Cirque du Soleil is a billiondollar enterprise that performs megashows throughout the world, including five permanent shows in Las Vegas. Cirque du Soleil’s O at the Bellagio Hotel, for example, features a 1.5-million-gallon water stage as part of an aquatic tapestry of swimmers and divers. Cirque du Soleil’s Ka at the MGM Grand Hotel features a giant 50’ x 25’ floating platform powered by the world’s largest hydraulic cylinders. Daniel Cook, a coordinator at UNLV’s Department of Engineering, said the program will help put to rest the common belief that engineering is not an exciting profession. “Engineering is extremely creative, and this program will go a long way in attracting students who want to be part of an exciting profession,” he said. Faculty in the new degree program bring expertise in mechanical design, microelectronics, magnetohydrodynamics, 3-D design and foundations and robotics. “Las Vegas is the perfect location to launch the Entertainment Engineering and Design degree program,” Aldridge said. “We have the largest laboratory right in our own backyard.” T he University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) will offer the nation’s first undergraduate degree program in entertainment engineering and design beginning in fall 2008. Entertainment Engineering and Design will be an interdisciplinary program of UNLV’s College Joe Aldridge of Engineering and College of Fine Arts. Both disciplines will be interwoven to prepare students for emerging technologies in the entertainment industry. Joe Aldridge, coordinator of UNLV’s College of Fine Arts, 4 ENGINEERING INC. said the new program aims to meet the increasing technical design demands of the entertainment industry, including the multimilliondollar megashows growing in popularity in Las Vegas and throughout the world. “The shows just keep getting bigger and more complex,” Aldridge said. “When hotels and casinos invest hundreds of millions into these massive show productions, there are some serious engineering considerations that ultimately make it happen.” He pointed to several Cirque JaNuaRy / FEbRuaRy 2008
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