26 Oct 2005
Honorary doctorate for coaster designer
The designer and engineer Werner Stengel, something of a living legend in the amusement park business, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Göteborg University.
Dr. Stengel has enjoyed a long and distinguished career, beginning in 1963 when he started working with Anton Schwarzkopf. Together, they designed the first modern steel roller coaster, Super Acht, introduced at the 1965 Oktoberfest in Munich.
Subsequently working with most manufacturers in the industry, Stengel is the man behind almost 500 roller coasters in amusement parks worldwide. At the Liseberg amusement park in Sweden, he had a hand in designing Kanonen, Balder, Lisebergbanan, Loopen, Cirkusexpressen and Virvelvinden.
Stengel's designs are credited with having made the amusement park experience more exciting yet safer. Amongst other things, he devised the clothoid-type loop now used in all roller coasters, a shape which places less strain on the body than a circular loop.
The honorary doctorate was awarded by the university in recognition of the fact that Stengel's designs are used there in the teaching of mathematics and physics.
Pic: On 20 October, Dr Stengel (centre, in front of Balder and Kanonen) visited Liseberg for a test drive on the roller coasters he helped to develop. Also present were physics professor Ann-Marie Pendrill and Liseberg CEO Mats Wedin
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