NEW CASTLE, PA–From the Canfield Fair to Jurassic Park, the giants of the entertainment industry look to Velocity Magnetics Inc. for a very specialized product.
The company specializes in permanent magnetic frictionless motion-control braking and launching systems made primarily for the amusement industry. What began in Domenic Marzano’s garage in 1998 has grown to a supplier of cutting-edge technology sought by theme parks around the world, including Disney, Universal Studios and Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.
Marzano got the idea after meeting the owner of a ride manufacturer that served the Canfield Fair. The company needed a braking mechanism for a new free-fall drop tower it was working on – and the original mechanism wasn’t working, he says.
He started working on a permanent magnetic braking system based on his knowledge of magnets and alloys that he learned at the former North City Motors dealership, which his parents owned.
“I was always fascinated with capacitive-discharge starters and the solid-state ignitions being developed in cars,” he says. “All that was based on magnets.”
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, magnetic alloys became more powerful, “which allowed you to accomplish some amazing things.” By the turn of the century, the technology was perfected, he says, “which allowed me to develop a compact, permanent magnetic brake to stop a 15,000- to 18,000-pound gondola. From there, it’s been history.”
Source: Business Journal Daily