During his 30 plus year career, Shawn Nolan has worked extensively throughout the entertainment industry in the fields of stage technology, automation and rigging. His current focus is two-fold: standards compliance to ensure adherence to national and international standards and, structural and mechanical analysis and design for the entertainment industry. He has extensive experience with equipment and methods used by the entertainment industry for both mechanical and structural systems, including design experience of aluminum structures and mechanics for automated systems.

From 1974 to ’78 Shawn attended Baldwin-Wallace College with a focus on technical theatre. In the
70’s and 80’s he worked primarily in regional theatre at Studio Arena, Great Lakes Shakespeare, Williamstown and the Cincinnati Playhouse among others. At Cincinnati he helped develop one of the first multi-axis motion control systems, including winch designs with dual brakes and failsafe designs.

In 1997 he received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and has been a practicing structural engineering since.

In 2002 he developed a new Entertainment Engineering division, ESG. During his tenure he oversaw the development of engineering methodologies for manual and automated rigging systems, large scale temporary events and renovation of historic theatre venues. He worked to develop analysis and documentation methods for all of the above; supervising or directly working on nearly 200 projects annually during this period.

In early 2008 he founded Nolan Engineering Services to re-focus on his core work; structural and mechanical engineering solutions for the live entertainment industry. His areas of engineering expertise include Finite Element Modeling of large scale structures and analysis of aluminum, steel, plastics and wood composites.  In addition, he has expertise in the areas of mechanical design and analysis of stage machinery, automation and special effects. He also has extensive experience with existing building structures, including forensic analysis of buildings with deterioration and distress.

In late 2009 Shawn relocated to Chicago to manage the engineering division of Reed Rigging. Shawn supported the development of professional services at Reed, helping them provide production rigging, installation and staging services across the entertainment industry.

In early 2011 Shawn joined PRG, working out of Chicago. Shawn is currently the Head of Technical Engineering & Standards.  His has two roles at PRG; to improve and develop analysis methods and, to develop process standards; both for adherence to internal processes and for compliance with international standards.  In addition, he will be providing engineering design services internally to help ensure that PRG maintains a rigorous approach in design, analysis and fabrication for both show effects and standard products.