Summary - Symposium on Education in Entertainment and Engineering 2026

The live entertainment industry presents increasingly complex challenges for technicians—whether in small community theatres or in large theme parks. At the same time, the shape of post-secondary education is changing—with an increasing emphasis on hands-on learning and outcome-based instructional design becoming the norm. At the convergence of these threads is the need to effectively prepare and educate students to enter the rapidly changing world of live entertainment technology.

The 2026 Symposium on Education in Entertainment and Engineering examines how touring environments, permanent venues, and troubleshooting under pressure inform the way entertainment and theatre engineering is taught. By combining panel discussions with collaborative working sessions, the symposium emphasizes turning real-world challenges into actionable educational frameworks.

2026 Symposium Agenda:

SESSION PAIR 1: TOURING VENUES & ENGINEERING (Friday Afternoon, 7/24/2026)

Panel Discussion – The Load In / Load Out: How Touring and Touring Venues Shape Entertainment and Engineering Education – How touring realities—logistics, venue variability, safety, codes, and failure—should change what and how we teach
Working Session – Teaching Touring Logistics, Standards, and Systems Thinking – A collaborative working session focused on translating touring realities—scheduling, flexibility, safety, and failure—into effective educational experiences and learning outcomes.

SESSION PAIR 2: FACILITY ENGINEERING & VENUE DESIGN (Saturday Morning, 7/25/2026)

Panel Discussion – Designing the Permanent for the Temporary: How Venue Engineering Informs Scenic and Systems Education – The focus of this discussion will be on how the relationship between architecture, engineering, and scenery should influence curricular structure, collaboration models, and student preparation.
Working Session – Designing the Designed Space: Teaching Venue and Scenic Engineering Through Case Studies – Participants develop curricular strategies and case-study frameworks for teaching venue design, scenic systems, and interdisciplinary collaboration within academic programs.

SESSION PAIR 3: LEARNING THROUGH FAILURE (Saturday Afternoon, 7/25/2026)

Panel Discussion – When It Breaks: How Failure, Recovery, and Troubleshooting Should Shape Theatre Engineering Education –Industry and academic voices share stories of breakdowns, troubleshooting, and recovery—revealing how failure drives better engineering, teamwork, and decision-making. This discussion will lead us to rethink how we teach problem solving, decision-making, and resilience.
Working Session – Failing Forward: Embedding Troubleshooting, Iteration, and Resilience into Engineering Education – A hands-on working session focused on designing failure-based learning experiences that build technical judgment, collaboration, and confidence in students.

Hotel
BLOCK CLOSED

A block of hotel rooms for the nights of July 23^rd, 24^th and July 25^th has been arranged at the Hilton Garden Inn for $136 plus tax, per night. When making your reservation use the group code 90N. You can make your reservations by visiting the Hotel’s website here or by calling 765-743-2100.

Residence Hall
BLOCK CLOSED

Residence Hall Rooms are available at First Street Towers on Purdue's campus. These single rooms with private bath are $85.12/night and need to be paid during the registration process.

First Street Towers Information

Purdue University

Purdue University