1996 Olympic Torch
Part One: Design and Production, an account by Lee Payne
Summer of 1994 I was contacted by Dr. Sam Shelton Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Sam asked me to be involved in the design of the torch for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Torch Relay. My assignment was to refine a design concept which had been executed by a graphic designer and to make the design manufacturable in order to have 18,000 production torches by late winter 1996. This was a relatively new experience for me since during my long career in product design and development I have always been developing my own designs. This allows me to solve a lot of the manufacturing problems during the conception of the product. It turned out that this was to be one of the most interesting and high profile projects I have ever encountered. I was part of a team that consisted of Atlanta Gas Light Company representatives, a Greek combustion engineer, several graduate students, headed by a mechanical engineer all focused on making a rough design concept by a Greek-American graphic designer a reality. After putting the torch into production we got to finish our Olympic adventure by designing the ceremonial caldron which accompanies the torch relay on its journey.
Olympic Torch 
Ceremonial Cauldron ... Izzy
... Olympic Torch ... Olympic Cauldron
... Landmark Torch ... Olympic Identity Program
