If you want the best seat at Arthur Ashe Stadium, you've got to be an engineer

Engineer

Mark Sharamitaro

Video/Screen

Grab/WSJ

There’s a spectacular new,

$150 million retractable roof at the US Open’s main court,

the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The roof is meant to prevent the kind of rain delays that

have caused havoc with tournament scheduling in years past.

And it already served its purpose on Thursday when rain hit

during a match.

Although the players complained that the noise of rain

hitting the roof put them off their game, the fact that the roof

was closed and the match could continue means that

engineer Mark Sharamitaro was on his game. 

Sharamitaro, a mechanical engineer, was

profiled by the Wall Street Journal’s Tom

Perrotta because the important job of closing the roof

comes with one of the most spectacular seats in the house.

It’s an air-conditioned office at the top of the stadium, with a

big view of the action, next to the broadcaster’s booth. It even

comes complete with a mini-fridge stocked with snacks.

Sharamitaro thought the roof-closing job would involve manning an

office in the basement. But sometimes the engineer gets the

best view in the house, not the worst.

Here’s a video of the roof in action, with some engineering facts

about it. At about 2:05 you can get a glimpse of the office.

Read the original article on Business Insider. Copyright 2016. Follow Business Insider on Twitter.

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If you want the best seat at Arthur Ashe Stadium, you"ve got to be an engineer