Steve Alcorn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steve Alcorn (born 1956) is an entrepreneur, engineer, inventor, author and teacher best known for his involvement in the theme park industry. Born in 1956, he graduated from the Harvard School for Boys (now Harvard-Westlake School) in 1973 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from UCLA in 1977. He was a Hughes Aircraft Company master’s fellow from 1977 through 1979. As a co-founder of MicroDaSys, he was an early pioneer of computer peripherals.

In 1982 he joined Walt Disney Imagineering (then known as WED Enterprises) as a consultant, where he worked on the electronic systems for Epcot Center. During his two years with Imagineering he designed show control systems for The American Adventure, wrote the operating system used in the parkwide monitoring system, and became Imagineering’s first Systems Engineer, heading up mechanical, electronic and software systems for the Journey Into Imagination ride.

In 1985 he became Vice President of Engineering and later Chief Operating Officer for Linn Electronics, the inventors of the digital drum machine. He reshaped the engineering department and assembled a team to work on the problem-plagued Linn 9000 drum machine, and designed the Linn Sequencer and Linn Drum Midi Studio.

In 1986 he founded Alcorn McBride & Associates, predecessor to Alcorn McBride Inc. The company initially concentrated on providing engineering services to the music industry, designing products for Akai, 360 Systems and Forat Electronics. In 1988 Mr. Alcorn designed the company’s first show controller, the V16, which was used in Wonders of Life at Epcot, and later became the parkwide standard throughout most of the world’s theme parks. He also directed the team that developed the Digital Binloop multi-track audio system that is used in nearly every major theme park attraction. In 2003 he won the Florida Governor’s Award recognizing his Digital Video Machine high definition player as the year’s best new product.

Mr. Alcorn is the author of the novels Everything In Its Path, A Matter of Justice, and (under a pseudonym) Ring of Diamonds. He also wrote Travel Kid (a pictorial travel journal), and the Epcot history, Building a Better Mouse: The Story of the Electronic Imagineers Who Designed Epcot.

Through Internet instruction provider Education To Go, Mr. Alcorn teaches online classes at 1400 universities and colleges worldwide. His classes include Theme Park Engineering, Write Fiction Like A Pro, Mystery Writing, and Advanced Fiction Writing.

He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Linda McBride, since 1978. They have one child, Dani Alcorn.