Engineered Achievement at BEYA

Stefan of Artist Services Inc., Washington DC says "The Circle of Life was one of the best numbers we've ever produced, and the laser effects gave the awards show the needed "wow" moment." Estatic responses like this followed the February 21, 2004 finale for the Annual Black Engineers of the Year Awards Conference at the Baltimore Convention Center. The three day conference cumulated with a salute to the soul of achievement. Dignitaries from Daimler Chrysler, Boeing, NASA, MITRE Corporation, General Motors, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, the United States Air Force Research Laboratory, the United States Navy, the Lyles Group, Motorola, the United States Army, Abbott Laboratories, IBM, Lockheed Martin, the Southern Company, and Ghana honored exceptional scientific acheivers.

Lighting effects provided by Royal Productions of Metairie, LA mingled with laser graphics and beam effects and stage enhancments including a rotating stage, a six piece band, singers, actors, dancers, and two IMAG video screens. Cues for the lighting, announcer, talent, and dancers were directed by Stefan of Artist Services.

Venue challenges did not deter Image Engineering's crew. The laser graphics were projected the distance of the ballroom on the fourth floor of the Baltimore Convention Center. In order to produce visible laser graphics at that distance with a semi-lit environment a large frame Ar+Kr (white light) laser was used. "Unfortunetly there isn't a large enough aircooled white light out there at present to give the power needed for this show." Says Dean Schaetzl, chief laser technician for Image Engineering. Power and water were transferred across the length of the hall to the control area.

"The amount of cable necessary to transfer power to the white light was similar to a large concert." Said Zac Duax, production supervisor for Image Engineering. The house electricians flew the power cabling above the ballroom in the rafters of the venue. Water required a specially engineered secondary drain system because there wasn't a suitable drain on the fourth floor.

The production crew from Image Engineering pitched in to run ancillary systems and aid production personnel track the script. The final script was 57 pages long. Said Stefan, "A team of experts was assembled -- staging, talent, lights, sound, writing, laser -- and we all followed the same script, the same path, and we made magic for the client."