 Bradley Hartman
Senior Systems Engineer
Walt Disney Imagineering
Glendale, CA
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 B.S. -
Electrical Engineering with Computer Science Emphasis,
University of Pennsylvania |
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Project Engineer in
the Controls Department, dealing with ride and show controls for
the theme parks. He is also in charge of project scheduling and
financing. |
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"Work for both large
and small companies to learn different ways of working…also
network." |
 
"It was a very interesting experience for me because it was a
multicultural experience. I worked, actually, in the mostly French team
that was a local team and then we had a mostly American team that came
over from the United States. And we worked in conjuncture with each other
with the language barriers and some of the other things and so on. And
different styles of doing work. And it was very interesting from that
respect. Americans were very get to the point, get it done, get it out the
door, and the French spent a lot more time up front, probably doing
analysis and so on. And I think the mix actually worked out very well
because we got a good analysis up front and we also had the sort of the
momentum to get the project done and get it out the door and get it
working on time."
In spite of the "big company attitudes" and the constraints of the long
hours and extensive periods of travel, Bradley Hartman enjoys his work at
Walt Disney Imagineering. He describes a recent project he worked on for
Disney Land Paris, called Space Mountain: "It was a new project for
Disney. We have a catapult system so that you basically get catapulted in
the train from about zero to fourteen meters a second in less than two
seconds. So you get about a G force going uphill. And it's the first
electronically controlled catapult in a theme park in history that we're
aware of, anyway. So that was a very interesting project with a lot of
risk, and we had a lot fun doing that one. And the most exciting thrill
was probably the first time we catapulted the train up the hill and
everybody got to sit in it afterwards and try it to see how it felt."
Although many engineers would like to work for Disney, positions there are
very competitive. Hartman advises students to get a breadth of experience
before applying. "I would almost recommend working somewhere else first,
with a company that does business with Disney, if you really wanted to get
into Disney, and then use that as your way to come into the company." In
his own case, Hartman had been working in France for some time when he
joined the French team that was working on Euro Disney in Paris. From
there, he moved back with Disney to the United States.
Hartman specifically advises students to work for both large and small
companies to learn different ways of working. Large companies have
bureaucracies, but they also have "a lot of people with a lot of
experience and a lot of knowledge, so that, if you have a problem, there's
always somebody that you can go find and talk to about it." It can be very
rewarding to work with teams of such people. Small companies place more
responsibilities and require more of individual engineers. At a large
company like Disney, where schedules absolutely have to be met, small
company experience teaches the engineer how to get work done "in a fairly
expedient manner."
Hartman further advises students to network. "Our area is kind of
specialized. There are not a lot of ride and show engineers out there at
this particular point in time … And it's sort of a big family in certain
ways, so people kind of know each other," not only within Disney but also
at Paramount and Universal.
Another useful strategy to follow is to do a coop or internship. The coop
need not take place at Disney, itself. Hartman interned at Hewlett Packard
as a student and feels it was a valuable experience. He adds, "But we do
have coops and interns that come into Disney. And sometimes that way is a
very good way for you to (determine) if you like the company. And it's
usually (a good opportunity) for them to see if they like you.
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