Interview with Professor Brendan Walker
As part of the National Fairground and Circus Archive (NFCA) at 30 Podcast series Professor Brendan Walker talks about how the collections of the NFCA have inspired his work as a 'Thrill Engineer'.
Professor Brendan Walker is an aeronautical engineer and a ‘Renaissance Showman’ who applies art, design, psychology, science and engineering to explore the experience of thrill, making him the only thrill engineer in the world. Professor Walker regularly works with fairground showmen designing new technology to develop the experience of the fairground ride thrill, one of his most famous rides is Wicker Man at Alton Towers.
Professor Walker graduated in aeronautical engineering at Imperial College, London and obtained his MA in Industrial Design Engineering at the Royal College of Art.
He is currently a Professor of Creative Industries at Middlesex University and has previously held posts as Deputy Head of Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art, Principal Research Fellow in Computer Science at the University of Nottingham and Associate Lecturer in Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins. He is also the Managing Director of ‘Aerial’, a company specialising in the creation of tailored emotional experiences, the Founding Director of the ‘Thrill Laboratory’, a collective of scientists, technologists, artists and designers creating thrilling experiences, and ‘Studio Go Go Limited’, a ride design company supported by Innovate UK.
Brendan has made extensive tv appearances including in Blue Peter, Bang Goes the Theory, BBC Tomorrow’s World and the Discovery Channel.
