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Women to Watch

Nancy Salim

07/$25.00©2007IEEE

If creating an iconic image of a duck ina sailor suit seems impressive, considermeshing the creativity of imaginationwith the technical nature of engineer-ing into what is known as “imagineer-ing.” A large part of being an engineerrequires creativity. Especially if youwork as an employee of Walt DisneyImagineering.

Almost all imagineerswork at the corporate head-quarters in Glendale, Califor-nia, developing ideas andattractions for Disney parks.During the construction of amajor project, imagineers areoften deployed to work onsitefor six months to a year. Imag-ineers can be artists, writers,architects, landscape architects,engineers, model builders, con-struction managers, techni-cians, designers, and a wholerange of others.

Walt Disney formed WaltDisney Imagineering on 16December 1952 as WED Enter-prises to develop plans for a theme parkand to manage Disney’s personal assets.It was originally an independent, privatecompany, owned by Walt Disney, but on3 February 1965 it was merged into WaltDisney Productions. It is currentlyknown as Walt Disney Imagineering(WDI), Disney Imagineering, or simplyImagineering.

WDI is well known today fordesigning and building Walt Disneyparks and resorts all over the world,including Disney Resort in Anaheim,California, Walt Disney World Resortin Lake Buena Vista, Florida, andTokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu,Chiba, Japan, among others.

WDI is now the research and devel-opment arm of Walt Disney Parks andResorts, no longer a division of WaltDisney Productions. Imagineering alsoincludes Walt Disney Creative Enter-tainment, the company that utilizesImagineering techniques to createshows, fireworks displays, and paradesat the Disney theme parks.

To get a better understanding ofwhat imagineers do we talked withthree Disney-Imagineers.

Be Our GuestMaureen Hart, principal mechanicalengineer at Walt Disney Imagineering,describes herself as “short and bossy,”but her passion shows through her workto enhance guests’ experiences at thecompany’s theme parks.

Q: Tell us about yourself.Hart: I’m a principal mechanical

engineer at Walt Disney Imagineering inGlendale, California. I have a bachelor’sand a master’s degree in mechanicalengineering. I grew up in Minnesota, andafter I earned my bachelor’s degree from

Stanford University, Palo Alto, Califor-nia, I decided to stay in California. Theenergy crisis in the 1970s sparked myinterest in engineering and alternativeenergy. I still remember it beingChristmas with no Christmas lightsbecause we all were trying to saveenergy. My first job was in thermalanalysis at Rockwell’s AlternativeEnergy division in El Segundo, Cali-fornia. At the risk of dating myself, myfirst calculator was an HP 35, and Iassembled my first computer from aHeathkit. I follow Formula 1 racingand have a daughter in high schooland a son in middle school.

Q: What made you decide to becomean imagineer? Hart: Working for Disney, I am able to

share what I do with my friends and fami-ly. I work on a variety of engineeringprojects and always like a challenge.

Q: What is a typical day for you at work? Hart: I’m currently working on global

accessibility and safety to improve ourguests’ experiences at our parks.

Building the House of MouseDisney imagineers bring park attractions to life

Maureen Hartsays that whilethe goal isopening theattraction,engineering isabout goodcommunicationandobservation.

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Q: What do you like best about your job?What do you like least or what is mostchallenging?

Hart: I really like the people I workwith and the variety of engineering I do.At Imagineering, everyone on a projectteam is focused on the goal of openingthe attraction to guests in our park. Theteamwork and “can do” attitude of ourproject teams make for a great workenvironment. Another bonus is theinstant recognition and interest in mywork that I receive from people. Thehardest part of my job is juggling multi-ple tasks, but that’s also what makes itinteresting.

Q: What advice would you give to otherswho want to become imagineers?

Hart: Pay attention to people. Observehow they interact with their environ-ment and with others. Remember, suc-cessful engineers are good observers andgood communicators. I’d also like toremind younger women that engineer-ing really is about people. Engineersdevelop and apply technology to betterthe human condition. I’ve noticedrecently that engineering recruitersfocus on science and math and tend toignore the people aspects of the field.

Two WorldsMolly Kistler, a software engineer at WaltDisney Imagineering, says she’s not yourtypical engineer. Whether it is days in thefield testing rides or writing code at herdesk, the position has proven to be bothchallenging and rewarding.

Q: Tell us about yourself. Kistler: I grew up in Bethlehem,

Pennsylvania. In high school I excelled inmath and science and spent a lot of timeplaying with our home computer. I wentto the University of Southern California,in Los Angeles, and earned my bachelor’sdegree in computer science with a minorin neuroscience. I stayed in school for anextra year to earn my master’s in com-puter science, intelligent robotics. Iinterned at Walt Disney Imagineeringduring my master’s program. During mylast semester of school I accepted a posi-tion starting in January 2004 at Disney

Imagineering. I am currently a softwareengineer in the Ride Engineering divi-sion at Walt Disney Imagineering.

Q: What made you decide to become animagineer?

Kistler: I had been to the parks grow-ing up but didn’t really know that “imag-ineers” existed. The night before myinternship interview I was searching theWeb to find out information about thecompany I was about to interview with. Iquickly learned that we don’t haveofficial information aboutimagineering out there onthe Web, but I foundenough information tobe prepared. I enjoyedthe summer intern-ship, and the followingsemester I had to makethe decision betweenimagineering and anothercompeting offer. Job satisfac-tion was important to me whenmaking the decision, and I was excitedabout the idea of producing a productthat my friends and family could enjoy—something that I could point to and say Ihelped create.

Q: What is a typical day for you at work? Kistler: There isn’t a typical day for an

imagineer. Some days I spend at my deskin front of a computer writing systemdocuments or writing and testing code.Other days I meet with review groups,operations and maintenance groups fromthe parks, outside vendors, or with ourproject team. Days in the field are long

days full of ride testing but can actuallybe a lot of fun. When you get back fromthe field you tend to experience a post-field lull, because you are so used to thefast pace and exciting new challengesevery day. As a software engineer for theride system, I am designing the systemand writing the code that controls theride portion of an attraction.

Q: What do you like best about your job?What do you like least or what is most

challenging? Kistler: I love workingwith other talented and

knowledgeable imagi-neers. There are gooddays and bad days atany job, but mycoworkers are whatkeep me coming back

every morning. Andagain, there is something

so neat about being able topoint to a well-known attraction

and say, “I worked on that.” Watchingguests enjoy the first attraction Iinstalled was the most rewarding experi-ence, and it made all of the hard work,long days and sacrifice worth it. Thereisn’t much I don’t enjoy about my job.You have to remember that it is likeevery other job with both its benefits andits hassles. The greatest downside mightbe that my friends always want me totake them to Disneyland! Most computerprogrammers spend their days sitting ata desk in their air-conditioned office—my greatest challenge so far has probablybeen working on a laptop, outside, in the

With MollyKistler there’snever a dullmoment,whether it’smeeting withreview groups,writing code ordays of testingpark rides.

“I was excitedabout the idea of

producing a productthat my friends and

family couldenjoy.”

heat, with a light drizzle and without asteady work surface while in the field inHong Kong. It certainly wasn’t your typi-cal work environment!

Q: What advice would you give to otherswho want to become imagineers?

Kistler: It wasn’t until I was at my jobfor a while that I discovered the largenumber of individuals who would love towork at Imagineering. With so muchsupply and a low demand for imagineers,it isn’t that easy to get a position here.For an entry-level engineer I would rec-ommend applying for an internship withour division. Internships give us anopportunity to assess the individual andgive them a chance to see what we arereally all about. Most of our young engi-neering imagineers all came throughthe internship program.

Under the SeaKristin Jones, an electronics engineer atWalt Disney Imagineering, is like mostpeople in that she became acquaintedwith Disney through the theme parks butit was a college design competition thatultimately landed her at the company.

Q: Tell us about yourself.Jones: I grew up near Chicago and

earned a bachelor’s degree in electricalengineering in 2005 from the Universi-ty of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.After graduation I packed up, movedout to Glendale, California, and havebeen an electronics engineer with Walt

Disney Imagineering ever since. I loveChicago-style, deep-dish pizza, dabblingin artistic hobbies like drawing andpainting, and almost always have a lap-top open at home so I can read the lat-est technology news.

Q: What made you decide tobecome an imagineer?

Jones: I went onfamily vacations toWalt Disney World asa kid and thought thatbuilding Disney rideshad to be a pretty cooljob. In college I foundout about Walt DisneyImagineering’s ImagiNationsDesign Competition. The competi-tion invites people from universitiesand organizations with a passion forintegrating creativity and technology topresent projects to imagineers. I sub-mitted my entry for a Finding Nemo-themed underwater safari and wasinvited to present my concept as a final-ist. With a lot of drawing, modelingclay, and a little luck, I ended up with afirst-place trophy and an internship atWalt Disney Imagineering.

Q: What is a typical day for you at work?Jones: I design and implement show

control systems for Disney attractions.The show control system ties together allof the animated figures, special effects,and audio/video that combine to tell aseamless story through Disney magic. As

an engineer I enjoy the opportunity towork through the entire design processfrom conceptualization through produc-tion, installation, and eventually test andadjust. Test and adjust is the fun part,where the designs leap off the paper and

become a real working system.On a typical installation, I

can usually be found withlaptop in hand, hiddensomewhere in theattraction’s scenerytrying to make the bigeffect go “kaboom!”

I recently finishedworking on the Finding

Nemo submarine voyage atDisneyland. Shortly after the

attraction opened to the public, I rodewith a group of guests that erupted intocheers and applause when the subreturned to the dock. I enjoy being a partof the team that gives people wonderfuland memorable experiences.

Q: What do you like best about your job?What do you like least or what is mostchallenging?

Jones: I feel very lucky to have mydream job. Perhaps the most excitingand challenging aspect of the job is try-ing to figure out how to bring some ofthe more radical and creative ideas intoreality. It’s a lot of fun to take an idea foran effect and go to the drawing board tofigure out just how the thing is going towork. Challenges can occur when relat-ing the limitations of a system to an artdirector, for example, who wants the jel-lyfish to go up and down faster than itcan currently go.

Q: What advice would you give to otherswho want to become imagineers?

Jones: Find something you are pas-sionate about and really immerse your-self in it. With a bit of determination youcan make your dreams into reality. Incollege, broaden your focus by takingclasses outside of your major and take onleadership roles in student organizations.Check out the Walt Disney ImagineeringImagiNations Design Competition andapply for internship opportunities.

Disneyland is all aboutmemorable experiences, andKristin Jones has contributedto a number of them, includingthe Finding Nemo submarinevoyage.

“I enjoybeing a part of

the team that givespeople wonderfuland memorable

experiences.”

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