Martin Brenneis Martin " Marty " Brenneis was an employee of Industrial Light & Magic ( ILM ) who worked under Steve Gawley during the production of . He was largely responsible for the internal electronics used in the construction of the studio model for the . But the " Reliant " was not the only model , whose internal electronics he was responsible for . Even more important were the internal electronics of the eight - foot " Enterprise " filming model , he helped to reinstate after its use in . Left very much to his own devices after the original builders of the model declined to help ILM with the internal lighting ( having been passed over for the works in favor of ILM ) , Brenneis recalled , " " The lighting in it was obviously done by a model maker who knew nothing about electricity . I and a couple of the model makers had to do some rewiring to least make it safe ! It was too much work to completely rewire it , but we patched the bits that really were hazardous so that we could use it . Another complication was that all the lights were sealed inside the ship , so if even one was damaged the entire model would have to be taken apart . " " ( ) Career outside " Star Trek " . Though having spent most of his career at ILM , " The Wrath of Khan " turned out to be his only contribution to the " Star Trek " franchise , having worked on other projects at ILM that ran concurrently when the company was contracted to do other " Star Trek " productions . He actually started his career at ILM in the early 1980s as an electronics engineer and has worked as such in one or another capacity on the ILM productions , " Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark " and " Dragonslayer " ( 1981 ) , " Poltergeist " and " E . T . the Extra - Terrestrial " ( 1982 ) , " Star Wars : Episode VI – Return of the Jedi " ; ( 1983 ) , " Cocoon " and " Enemy Mine " ( 1985 ) , " * batteries not included " and " Leonard Part 6 " ( 1987 ) , " Back to the Future Part II " ( 1987 ) , " The Hunt for Red October " and " Ghost " ( 1990 ) , " The Meteor Man " , " So I Married an Axe Murderer " and " Mrs . Doubtfire " ( 1993 ) , " Golden Gate " ( 1994 ) , " The Indian in the Cupboard " ( 1995 ) , the television productions " Nash Bridges " , " Grand Avenue " and the movie " Scream " ( 1996 ) , " Metro " , " A Smile Like Yours " , and " Flubber " ( 1997 ) , " Hurlyburly " ( 1998 ) and productions like " 40 Days and 40 Nights " ( 2002 ) , " Pirates of the Caribbean : The Curse of the Black Pearl " ( 2003 ) , " Mission : Impossible III " , " Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man ' s Chest " and " Poseidon " ( 2006 ) , before ILM split of its physical visual effects department for it to become the independent company Kerner Optical As an electronics specialist on physical effects production assets , like studio models , Brenneis followed long time ILM colleagues such as Robert Hill , Patricia Rose Duignan , Sean Casey , and Steve Gawley into employment at the newly formed company . At Kerner , Martin Brenneis continued to ply his trade for productions such as " Pirates of the Caribbean : At World ' s End " ( 2007 ) , " Terminator Salvation " and the science fiction blockbuster " Avatar " ( 2009 ) , " The Last Airbender " ( 2010 ) and " Big Miracle " ( 2012 ) , Brenneis ' last recorded credit before Kerner itself went out of business in 2012 .