Theme Park Engineering and Design Club

Theme Park Engineering and Design Club (TPED) at UCI aims to bridge the gap between engineering, design, and storytelling by fostering an interdisciplinary community of students at UC Irvine. TPED at UCI encourages creativity and problem-solving through workshops, projects, and competitions and offers professional development opportunities by connecting with industry experts and Imagineering professionals. TPED is the only club on the UCI campus that bridges the gap between engineering and themed entertainment.

TPED was originally founded in Winter 2025. In Spring 2025, the club competed in the Toronto Metropolitan Theme Design Competition (TMTDC) Open Qualifying round. UCI was invited to compete in Invitationals at Universal Studios Orlando in the roller coaster challenge. In Fall 2025, TPED started a Ride Engineering Competition Team, which successfully completed their first manufactured attraction, a dive coaster, and placed 10th. TPED once again competed in TMTDC Open Qualifiers in Spring 2026 and got invited for invitationals in Fall 2026 for the second year in a row for the roller coaster and mechanical design.

Outside of projects, TPED hosts weekly general meeting with a mixture of lectures, hands on activities, and connecting with industry professionals.

In the Fall Quarter, TPED meetings are hosted on Mondays at 7pm in DBH 1300.

Current Work / Recent Updates

TPED will be participating in the Ride Engineering Competition 2026-2027 as the newly named Anteater Ride Engineering Team, with team of 30 students. 5 students from the TMTDC OQ team will also be traveling to Universal Studios Orlando to competed in the TMTDC Invitationals 2026 for the roller coaster and mechanical design prompt.

TPED's plans for general meetings in the Fall 2026 quarter include trivia nights, roller coaster building competitions, design prompts, and theme park geoguesser. Outside of school, TPED wants to visit a different theme parks around once a quarter. TPED is working on several collaborations with clubs in the school like ASME, and outside UCI, like TEA at UCLA.

Org Structure

President

Responsible for organizing the board and keeping all information properly recorded

Vice President

Responsible for assisting the president with any major tasks that do not fall into the jurisdiction of other officer positions

Secretary

Tasked with maintaining club communication and organization, as well as other managerial tasks that are not delegated to the president or vice president

Treasurer

Tasked with keeping track of club expenditures and budgets as well as fundraising

Projects and Events Coordinator

Primarily assisting the Projects lead, as well as managing internal projects and meetings

Projects Lead

The primary officer in charge of managing the club’s external projects, namely Ride Engineering Competition and Toronto Metropolitan Thrill Design Competition