Werner Stengel

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Werner Stengel.

Werner Stengel is a notable German roller coaster designer and engineer. He is the founder of Stengel Engineering, also known as Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmbH (or Ingenieur Buero Stengel GmbH).

Born 22 August 1936, in Bochum, Germany, he first worked on amusement park rides in collaboration with Anton Schwarzkopf in 1963. He established his own company, Stengel Engineering, in 1965. He has been responsible for many innovations in roller coaster design, including in 1975 the first modern looping coaster - Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain. His clothoid loop is now standard on many roller coasters as it produces less intense forces on the human body than a circular vertical loop. In 1976 Werner Stengel established the first horizontal launch "Shuttle Loop" (Shock Wave). He was also noted as being a pioneer in the zero-g roll, the principle of having the track twist around the heart line, rather than the center of the track rotating itself.

He has maintained his eminent position in the amusement park industry ever since; he has worked on most of the world's record breaking roller coasters including Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Kingda Ka and many others. In the 2004 Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards list of the world's top 50 steel roller coasters, 72% have had direct involvement with Stengel Engineering.

He received a honorary doctorate from Gothenburg University in 2005, for his "inexhaustible creativity in linking physics and design to the experience of the body in roller coasters and other rides."

Today, he is currently semi-retired and working as a consultant in the amusement park ride industry.

Stengel shall be celebrating his 500th roller coaster with the opening of Maverick, located at Cedar Point.