9/15/2025:
I met with KOK for the first time today. We discussed general ideas for the project. Definitely still in the brainstorming phase. I am still unsure about the size and scale of this project. Ideally I will construct a small scale roller coaster, but I need to learn if this is even feasible. I will email several roller coaster manufacturers. Starting with The Gravity Group, a wooden manufacturer out of Ohio, because they have a “school projects" tab on their website. I will also email Great Coasters International, Rocky Mountain Construction, and S&S Worldwide.
9/18/2025:
I began to construct an email to the Gravity Group:
Hello Gravity Group team,
My name is Lucas Tikkala-Cutler. I am a senior at a small private school in western Massachusetts. For our senior year, students have to work on a project on their own for a year that they then exhibit to the school and local community at the end of the year. I am still early in the year and am solidly in the stage of brainstorming, but my general goal is to build a roller coaster of some scale. I understand that building a rideable backyard roller coaster may be unrealistic, but I am committed to designing and creating a roller coaster in some aspect. My school provides me with an in school advisor (generally a teacher who is in a field that aligns with the project. Mine teachers Calculus). I do, however, need an outside advisor who is an expert in the specific subject of my project. I do not need this person to meet with me in person but weekly or by-weekly meetings would be ideal. I have a lot of experience in the math and science sides of STEM but am somewhat undereducated on engineering. I have taken Calculus I and II, discrete mathematics, and differential equations. My “look at me I did a cool thing flex” is that I took Calculus when I was 14. I hope you could help me through this process.
Best,
Lucas
P.S. I am also an enthusiast and have ridden 193 coasters including Wooden Warrior and Hades 360. To my chagrin, I went to Great Escape the year before Bobcat opened.
9/21/2025:
Revised Email:
Hello Gravity Group team,
I am seeking an advisor for my senior project. My name is Lucas Tikkala-Cutler. I am a senior at The Academy at Charlemont, a small private school in western Massachusetts. For our senior year, students must work independently on a project, which we then exhibit to the school and local community at the end of the year. I am still early in the year and in the brainstorming stage, but my general goal is to build a roller coaster of a TBD scale. I understand that building a rideable backyard roller coaster may be unrealistic, but I am committed to designing and creating a roller coaster in some way. My school provides me with a teacher to help me through the process, but the program requires that I also have an outside advisor who is an expert in the subject that I am interested in and can guide my project more precisely. I am asking if someone from Gravity Group would be willing to serve as this outside advisor, offering guidance through brief weekly or biweekly meetings (remote is fine).
The unfortunately important stats and achievements:
GPA: 4.0, SAT: 1500, self-studied for AP Calc BC and received a 5, skipped 7th grade, took Calculus at 14 years old, scored in the top 5% on the AMC without studying. I lead my school’s honor council and was elected to be the Student Representative to the Board of Trustees. I am captain of the Model UN team and Co-captain of our nationally ranked Quizbowl team.
About me (the fun stuff): I am an avid roller coaster enthusiast and have ridden 193 coasters, including Wooden Warrior and Hades 360. To my chagrin, I went to Great Escape the year before Bobcat opened. I play lead guitar in several bands, and guitar is one of my oldest passions. I am also a big reader, and when I am not riding roller coasters, love to curl up with a good book.
If you're available, I'd love to schedule a short video chat in the coming weeks to discuss this exciting prospect.
Best,
Lucas
Email is sent out. Waiting for a response.
I am also going to reach out to other manufacturers with similar emails tailored to them. I’ll just change the coasters that I talk about.
9/22/2025
Waiting to hear back from The Gravity Group, Great Coasters International, and Rocky Mountain Construction. Decided not to reach out to S&S Sansei because they did not provide an email address that was not about professional work. I put out a post on Reddit to r/rollercoasters to see if anyone had any ideas for me and was provided with Built to Thrill L.L.C. They build backyard roller coasters professionally. I will reach out to them as well. They are likely a more realistic shot, but I am still hopeful about the other companies.
Just reached out to Built to Thrill. Waiting for a response.
10/9/2025
Met with KOK. We discussed the possibility of grants for getting funding. We looked at the Mass Cultural Council as well as the “Grant Portal.” Funding seems unclear so I don’t know if I am going to apply for grants yet. I’ll need to get an estimate from an outside advisor.
10/12/2025
Reached out to the gravity group again to see if they are willing to work with me. All of the other companies had no-reply emails.
10/14/2025
KOK has an idea for an outside advisor. We will talk about him on Thursday.
10/16/2025
Met with KOK. She told me about a potential advisor named Jon Lord. He is a local engineer who she has worked with on theater productions. He has experience with 3d printing and building.
10/24/2025
Jon Lord is a yes. He has built something remarkably similar before and is excited to work with me on this project. I have his phone number and will reach out to him soon. I followed up with the companies that I emailed and still did not get a response. I imagine they are all very busy and that seems to be okay. Once I get further into the project I will likely try to contact individuals who have built their own backyard coasters as they may have additional insights.
10/27/2025
I contacted Jon and provided him with the base information of my project. I sent him information about my schedule and availability and am now waiting for a reply.
10/31/2025
Jon responded to me with information about his personal experience in 3d printing, cad design, and engineering. He sent me pictures of some of the projects that he created at his house.
11/3/2025
I have now communicated with Jon a little bit more and he has signed my advisor form. I am continuing to try to schedule a meeting and will wait and see what he says.
11/14/2025
Jon asked me if I could meet this weekend. I could not and proposed to meet next weekend.
11/17/2025
Still no reply. I am texting him again to see if he responds.
Here is my agenda for what I need to talk about with Jon:
Budget: This is a real area of uncertainty for me in this process. I imagine Jon will be able to give me a ball park figure and that will provide me with some insights as to the size of the product.
Size: I would like to build something that is ridable but am aware that the size may not be gigantic. If I could make a drop and some hills that would feel like a victory. This will be impacted by budget and what Jon says is reasonable.
Materials: I will likely use a combination of wood and PVC pipe for the structure and some 3d printed and metal materials for the cart and wheels. Jon made a piece of track solely out of wood.
Layout: My thought was a platform that I can pull the cart up to, then push off. It would then go through a drop and two hills before coming to a stop on a third hill.
Cart: I’ve seen office chairs on metal frames be used for this. That is my first instinct but I am open to other options.
Building something that is structurally sound: This is where I will need Jon’s assistance quite a bit, as I do not have enough engineering knowledge to achieve this on my own.
11/23/2025
Jon came to my house and we discussed project details. He brought some of the contraptions that he had made for Habitat for Humanity so I could see how they rode on the track. One of the carts had an C or I style track, where the wheel rides inside two protruding wooden sections and the other had two wheels at ninety degree angles to hold the cart on the track. I’m not sure which way I will go but either seems workable. The priority right now is to design a schematic. On size and scale Jon liked the idea of somewhere between 5 and 10 feet tall and was relieved that I didn’t want to have any turns because they make everything more complicated. We also discussed using the slight dip in the topography on my lawn to our advantage. Jon has mostly used wood for his projects so that is what I am likely to use as well. He showed me how to make curved wood by connecting staggered pieces horizontally and then cutting out a new piece from that. Jon also gave me some programs to look into for the project. Diamond Pier Foundations is a company that makes foundations to lock the coaster to the ground. Sketch up is a CAD program that is good for taking initial schematics to more detailed products. Rhino is the primary CAD program that Jon uses for designing. Maker Pipe is a company that makes a steel version of PVC pipe which could be used somehow in the project whether for track or supports.
11/23/2025 part 2
I remembered that at the academy I had used Fusion 360, a CAD program, for Mr. Miller’s 3D printing class so I reached out to see if he still had the license.
11/23/2025 part 3
Miller responded and gave me the login information so that is a gigantic money saver as fusion 360 is around sixty dollars a month.
11/24/2025
I began to design a rough sketch of a layout for the coaster on Fusion. I will have to reevaluate the angles on the drop and the hills but this is generally what I am looking to build.
This version would be eight feet tall.
1/5/2026
Starting the second semester back up, I have been working to plan out the trip to Six Flags for the 8th grade.
2/1/2026
Met with Schatz and Almeida to discuss feasibility and logistics of Six Flags trip
2/25/2026
By 2/27/2026 will share with Almeida the 1st day lesson plans for IPS.
4/5/2026
Wrote my first week of lessons. Almost completely finished. Need some additional practice problems and perhaps more physical components.
4/6/2026
Met with KOK. We discussed the necessity for some form of construction. I am planning on going to Home Depot to scope out the resources for building my project. I want to use a C-box track design for the track that I end up using. The bare minimum that I would like to build is a straight track section with a functioning car at a scale that is freestanding, but not rideable but humans. I would prefer to build something with some more elements.
4/13/2026
Spent much of my morning beautifying my slide show to teach to the 8th grade during F block. I met with KOK briefly for our weekly check-in. I am planning on going to Home Depot after school on Wednesday to look for materials. I have merged two of my lessons to make today’s longer and fuller. The topic is rotational motion. I had students
4/15/2026
I went to Home Depot to scout out options for my creation. I found lumber the size I need and wheels at a diameter and width that can fit on the tracks.
4/16/2026
Completed lesson #2. I had students provide feedback for my teaching and got generally positive responses. Some students requested more step-by-step instructions and I incorporated that into the later lessons.
4/17/2026
For grandparents day I had five 8th grade students and their grandparents. They did a circular motion lab with rubber stoppers and string. I returned to Home Depot with Liisa and we purchased $150 dollars worth of tracks and wheels.
4/28/2026
Lesson #4 completed. Students had some break related sluggishness with the topics, but jumped back into the material quickly.
4/30/2026
Final lesson is completed. Discussed pre-trip logistics and game students a review worksheet to do before they got to the park.
5/1/2026
Six Flags trip! It was very successful. Students had a great time and were able to apply what they learned to the rides with relative ease.
My neighbor Rick came over to assess the materials that I had put together and we decided where I would need screws vs bolts vs nails and then purchased what I didn’t have in my barn.
5/3/2026
Put the track segment together. Rick brought over some additional tools and assisted in the construction of the track. He was a font of knowledge about building and I would have struggled to achieve what I did without his consultation.
5/13/2026
Reflection done
5/14/2026
Webpage and Learning Journal done