Steve Blum is senior vice president of engineering and safety at Universal Parks and Resorts. He serves at the technical focal point for all Universal theme park engineering activities, overseeing and maintaining ride and show safety standards, supervising technical personnel at worldwide planning and development entities, governing technical oversight of engineered show and ride systems, representing Universal’s technical interests in legislative matters and salient codes and standards organizations, and oversees Universal’s Patent Program.
His career in theme park engineering has spanned nearly 30 years, and during this time he has worked as a senior project engineer for Disneyland Paris, director of engineering for Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Japan projects, and senior director of engineering for Universal Creative. Prior to this, he worked in the aerospace engineering space, with a role at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Projects Division.
Blum is an executive committee member of ASTM’s F24 Committee for Amusement Rides and Devices. He is also a member, and previous chair, of the IAAPA Global and North American Safety Committees, and has served on the Society of Automotive and Aerospace Engineers as well as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
One nominator said: “Universal Studios has ascended to the heights of the theme park competitive landscape largely because of its innovative rides. Steve Blum has been involved with the development of every new ride system for many years at Universal and deserves credit for his innovative work.
“From the Amazing Spider-Man ride to the innovative use of Kuka robots for the Forbidden Journey Harry Potter ride, to the prototypical work being done for Epic Universe, Steve Blum has been at the centre of it all. Without his attention to engineering excellence, cutting-edge technology and adherence to strict safety protocols, Universal would not be in the fortunate position it finds itself in today.”