Mechanical Design for the Stage

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Mechanical Design in Theatre

The writer, painter, or film maker is not constrained by the realities of the physical world, as the engineer is. Thus, engineering design is the most difficult of all the creative arts.

Thomas Hanson, Engineering Creativity, 1987

Overview

Mechanical design is the act of developing a machine that will best meet some identified need: a more fuel efficient truck engine, a silent electric shaver, or, for us perhaps, a thin compact winch capable of fitting within a 6″ high platform. This design effort entails work in dozens of areas that range from the easily quantifiable ones of cost, weight, and size to the subjective issues of aesthetics or impressing an important client. A mechanical design process attempts to ...