Uni-Systems Engineering is a single source provider of iconic structures and equipment that move. We partner with engineers, architects, and construction managers to mitigate risk and deliver functionally integrated, reliable showpieces. Our team of mechanical, structural, and electrical engineers specializes in providing custom, project-specific solutions to complex and unprecedented engineering challenges.
Click on a location to learn more about a project.
Completed: 1997
Location: Everett, Washington
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the structure and electro-mechanical drive system for the paint gantry at the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. A counter-weighted rack-and-pinion system drives the platform 17 feet vertically. Four flanged wheels are driven 12 feet horizontally along two floor rails. A rack-and-pinion system extends and retracts the basket from the frame.
Completed: 2002 & 2003
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the Uni-Dock as well as the landing gear elevators at the American Airlines maintenance facility in Forth Worth, Texas.
Completed: 1997
Location: Everett, Washington
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the structure and electro-mechanical drive system for the paint gantry at the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. A counter-weighted rack-and-pinion system drives the platform 17 feet vertically. Four flanged wheels are driven 12 feet horizontally along two floor rails. A rack-and-pinion system extends and retracts the basket from the frame.
Completed: 2006
Location: Everett, Washington
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the Boeing material lifts, which provide safe and easy access for assembly of the Boeing 777. The material lift moves with the aircraft as it travels along the assembly line, and lifts people and equipment between the floor and various levels of the aircraft.
Completed: 1991
Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Florida
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the 185 ft tall and 55 ft wide vertical lift door for the Solid Motor Assembly and Readiness Facility (SMARF) Building located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Completed: 2012
Location: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied and installed the retractable roof at the Academy of Sciences. The panels are driven approximately 6 feet per minute by four 1-hp belt drives, moving between the open and closed positions in approximately 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
Completed: 2012
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the mechanization system for the City Creek Center retractable skylights. The glass-clad panels arch 20 feet in the air as they cantilever over the public meeting areas and seal against each other to form 58 by 240 foot skylights.
Completed: 2003
Location: Rockford, Illinois
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the Starlight Theatre operable roof. Each triangular shaped panel is 36 feet wide at the base and 42 feet long. The tip of each panel is rotated up 24 feet to the open position with a 50-ton jack screw powered by a 5-horsepower motor.
Completed: 2016
Location: New York City, New York
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and oversaw installation of the retractable skylight mechanical drive system for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. The 40 retractable panels move in unison during skylight operation. Individually, the panels continuously, automatically adjust their position to accommodate thermal changes in the oculus shape.
Completed 2014
Location: Orlando, Florida
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the mechanization for the operable walls located in the second-story banquet hall and at the main entry on the first floor.
Completed: 2006
Location: Glendale, Arizona
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed State Farm Stadium retractable roof was the first in North America to operate on an incline, as well as the retractable field, which is driven in and out of the stadium along 13 steel rails in approximately 60 minutes.
Completed: 2008
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the retractable roof and end-zone wall mechanization systems. Each retractable roof panel is driven along five rails at a 13-degree slope by a cable drive system.
Completed: 2000
Location: Houston, Texas
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the retractable roof for Minute Maid Ballpark in Houston, Texas.
Completed: 2002
Location: Houston, Texas
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the NRG Stadium retractable roof, the first in the NFL. The 180,000-square-foot retractable roof consists of two large panels that bi-part at the 50-yard line and rest over each end zone when in the open position.
Completed: 2012
Location: Miami, Florida
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied and installed the Marlins Ballpark retractable roof. In addition to game days, the roof is operated daily by groundskeepers to maintain the live grass playing field.
Completed: 2020
Location: Arlington, Texas
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and oversaw installation of the mechanization for the 12,000 ton, 6-acre retractable roof.
Completed: 2018
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and oversaw installation of the eight-petal retractable roof mechanization. In the closed position, the petals cantilever over a 125,000 square foot opening, and seal against each other with their tips interlocked at the center of the roof opening. When open, the petals rest on the fixed roof deck, out of sight from below.
Completed: 2009
Location: Arlington, Texas
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the mechanization system for the AT&T Stadium retractable roof, end-zone walls, and video board.
Completed: 2020
Location: Pier 57, New York City
Scope of Work: Design
The garden planters are driven to the edges of the rooftop patio to reconfigure the space as an outdoor theater. Uni-Systems Engineering designed the drive system to fit within tight space constraints, with only a fraction of an inch tolerances.
Completed: 2014
Location: Miami, Florida
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and oversaw installation of the adjustable wind damper at The University of Miami Marine Technology Life Sciences Seawater Research Building. A large wind tunnel behind the damper generates wind, and the damper controls its direction over the water in a seawater wave tank. The damper is operated in conjunction with a separate wave machine underneath it to simulate various weather conditions.
Completed: 2012
Location: Miami, Florida
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied and installed the Marlins Celebration Feature, which features mechanized leaping marlins, flying seagulls, flamings, and oscillating waves.
Completed: 2009
Location: Flushing, New York
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the mechanization system Mets Home Run Apple. A hydraulic drive system lifts the apple 15 feet in the air in just 3 seconds, and then slowly lowers the apple back into its housing in approximately 30 seconds.
Completed: 2007
Location: Houston, Texas
Uni-Systems Engineers designed, supplied, and installed the updated structure and mechanization system for the Minute Maid Park Squeeze Play Running Man feature. The 15-foot tall aluminum cut-out is driven 37.5 feet along a stainless steel rail up to 15 feet per second, with speed quickly and easily adjusted by the operator.
Completed: 2005
Location: Eloy, Arizona
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the SkyVenture skydiving simulator is used for training and recreational purposes. The single-pass system produces a 150 mph wind tunnel, fast enough for vertical formation skydiving with multiple divers.
Completed: 2013
Location: Cape Canaveral, Florida
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied and installed the Kennedy Space Center theater’s operable projection screen and operable acoustical wall panel. Operation is orchestrated with the theater’s show program. A system of wires an pulleys open the acoustical wall to reveal the Shuttle Atlantis, then opening the screen to provide access to the museum display.
Completed: 2000
Location: Houston, Texas
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the ornamental train at Minute Maid Park. At 56 feet in length and weighing 48,000 pounds, the model is larger than the original 1860’s locomotive it represents.
Corporate Office: 4600 Lake Road, Minneapolis, MN 55422
Warehouse: 8225 93rd Avenue North, Brooklyn Park, MN 55445
Completed: 2012 and 2014
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Uni-Systems Engineering designed the building maintenance equipment (BME) doors at Eight Avenue Place. Located at the top of the building, the doors are 92.5 feet long and tilted back at a 33-degree angle. The panels fold accordion style when opening at the touch of a button.
Completed: 2014
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the bi-directional wind tower ventilation system at Princess Nourah Bint AbdulRahman University.
Completed: 2012
Location: Solna Municipality, Sweden
Working with Hollandia b.v., a leader in European steel construction, the staff of Uni-Systems Engineering designed and commissioned the electro-mechanical drive system for the Friends Arena retractable roof. The retractable roof panels are supported by bogies that roll across 8 parallel, arched rails that span the width of the arena.
Expected Completion: Mid 2020s
Location: San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, Mexico
Uni-Systems Engineering teamed with M3 Engineering to produce designs for the azimuth, shutter, and windscreen mechanisms. All subsystems are iterations of the mechanisms first designed by M3 for the Magellan Observatories, with enhancements made to the reliability and maintainability of the TSPM designs by leveraging lessons learned from 20+ years of operation at these world-class observatories.
Expected Completion: 2026
Location: Vallenar, Chile
Uni-Systems Engineering has been involved in the design and development of mechanisms for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) since 2014, partnering closely with M3 Engineering and GMTO to produce robust, reliable, redundant designs that also emphasize accessibility and maintainability.
Completed: 2019
Location: Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt, Australia
Uni-Systems Engineering produced detailed designs for the azimuth and shutter mechanisms. On account of a site location in a cyclonic region with the world’s highest wind loads, Uni-Systems Engineering collaborated closely with M3 Engineering to produce a novel arrangement of azimuth mechanisms within a predetermined space claim, including an unprecedented preloaded secondary lateral restraint system for the extremely demanding survival conditions.
Completed: 2007
Location: Minnesota
Uni-Systems Engineering designed, supplied, and installed the 20 by 22-foot retractable roof for a residential telescope observatory. The homeowner opens roof using push button controls, and enjoys a 180 degree, unobstructed view of the starlit sky.
Completed: 2015
Location: Hawaii County, Hawaii
Uni-Systems Engineering partnered with M3 Engineering to perform a field report and produce design upgrades for an electric motor retrofit of the Hawaii 88 Telescope Observatory mechanisms.
Completion: 2021
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Uni-Systems Engineering is designing and supplying the Massey Hall mechanized seating. Four chain driven seat lifting tractors, each powered by a 1 horsepower electric motor move seating sections between the stored and deployed positions.