Glenn McNair
Hardware Design Manager
Electrical Engineering Studies
University of Central Florida

Glenn (Mac) has been the responsible hardware engineer for a long list of domestic and international themed entertainment projects. Most recently Mac has been one of two engineers responsible for the controls design and installation of the world's two newest Linear Induction-Launched roller coasters.

Glenn began his technical career in the U.S. Navy.  He graduated from the Nuclear Power program in 1979 and was selected to serve as a staff instructor at the Naval Prototype Training Unit in Idaho Falls, Idaho for the following two years.  After shore duty in the Idaho desert, Glenn served aboard two submarines, SSBN 657 Francis Scott Key and SSN 686 L. Mendel Rivers, attaining the enlisted rank of Machinist Mate 1st Class (SS).  

In 1983 after six years of Navy life and having recently started a family of his own, he joined the civilian sector as a maintenance technician for Airco Carbon, a manufacturer of electrodes for the steel industry.  Glenn was introduced to PLCs and became fascinated with the power of programmable control systems.  Largely self-taught in PLC use, he moved to Orlando, Florida in 1985 to pursue an electrical engineering degree at the University of Central Florida.  Glenn continued his education at UCF while supporting his family in a maintenance role at Merita Bakery.  With another job change to Simplimatic Engineering Co., a conveying and palletizer machinery manufacturer, he added AutoCAD drafting to his skills and began learning how to apply adjustable frequency drives and soft-start controllers to automation projects.

When Simplimatic closed its Sanford, FL plant in 1993, Glenn was hired by BIRKET and entered the world of entertainment engineering.