Dr. Hansen is a principal of Ride Centerline, LLC, a roller coaster and amusement ride design consultancy firm. When scientists at NASA were researching whether electromagnets could be used to send rockets into space, they turned to the engineers affiliated with Ride Centerline to design the track and coaster car system of the maglev launch vehicle. Dr. Hansen works closely with engineers Alan Schilke and Dody Bachtar. Schilke is somewhat of an icon in the amusement ride industry. He has designed many of the world’s largest roller coasters and theme park rides. Dody Bachtar, with a master’s degree in civil engineering from Cornell University, completes the Ride Centerline team with a wealth of expertise in structural design. Bachtar has more than twelve years of experience in roller coaster and amusement ride design.
In addition to his work at Ride Centerline, Dr. Hansen is also President of Hansen Engineering Analysis and Design, Inc. of Hyde Park, Utah, where he employs both Schilke and Bachtar to perform engineering consulting work on independent projects. Other challenging projects undertaken by these three engineers include NASA ride vehicles used to carry primates into space and orbiter simulators. Their expertise in developing fiberglass designs that withstand the wear and tear of a roller coaster have been used in a variety of industrial applications from simulated rock-climbing walls to aircraft components.
Prior to forming Ride Centerline with Schilke and Bachtar, Dr. Hansen served as Chief Engineer for S&S Power, the largest amusement ride manufacturer in the world, located in Utah. He also previously worked on national security projects at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM, including design work on the nuclear bunker-buster bomb. Due to his service at Sandia, he brings significant government contract management experience to the company. Dr. Hansen will manage the technology development efforts at the direction of Oceana’s Chief Technology Officer. He holds a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico.
