NCSU team wins Disney attraction design contest

RALEIGH -- A team of N.C. State University students has won first place in a competition to dream up a Disney attraction of the future.

Brian Gaudio and Andy Park, architecture students at NCSU's College of Design, and Michael Habersetzer and Kyle Thompson, from the College of Engineering, won $3,000 for their project, "The Mind of Molly Mouse." Gaudio, Park and Habersetzer are juniors; Thompson is a senior.

The theme of the Walt Disney Imagineering ImagiNations Design Competition was to create a Disney experience on the moon in the year 3011. Walt Disney Imagineering is the organization that designs and creates Disney attractions. The competition, held in Glendale, Calif., aims to encourage students to pursue careers in creative and technical fields.

Habersetzer, who said he has a passion for Disney projects, described "Molly Mouse" as an epic adventure to save a distant planet from an evil supercomputer.

"We created an immersive family experience in two parts on the moon," Habersetzer said.

The team members credited their success, in part, to the diversity of their educational backgrounds. "We all had something to bring to the table, and not just from our majors," Thompson said.

Park said they hope to use their prize money to support future teams from NCSU in the competition. This was the third time the university placed in the top three in the past four years.