 Carl Allison
Senior Electronics Engineer
Walt Disney Imagineering
Glendale, CA
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Carl Allison is an
Electrical Engineer who also writes software and works on
network design. Through software design coding and testing he
creates special effects for theme rides at Walt Disney World.
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"Research the fields
one is interested in ahead of time. If young engineers are not
aware of what a particular area or discipline is all about, they
might be getting into something that they may regret in the long
run." |
 
"And coming to work for Walt Disney Company, being that there are a lot of
creative individuals here, a lot of artistic people, we have a concept
called blue sky where you just start thinking and pulling ideas out of the
clear blue sky. And that's kind of a nice thing to be told that, you know,
go after something that is different, something that has not been done
before. Go after the idea that makes people think, well, how did they do
that? And as opposed to being conformed to certain defense or military
standards where you're confined to a rigid box, we have standards here,
but as far as the creative aspect, we're allowed to let our minds roam and
find that one thing that no one has ever thought of before."
"We did a project in Florida several years ago and I worked on a small
piece of that - it was the Tower of Terror. And I had to do some software
design and software coding and testing, to bring off one of the special
effects for something that was considered in the fifth dimension. More or
less, it was a giant eyeball, because it was themed after Rod Sterling's
Twilight Zone. So it was this giant eyeball that allows the guest to have
an experience within the attraction. The giant eyeball opens up and there
are images plastered on this eyeball as it looks around and observes
what's going on. The guest is now part of that experience. And so I got a
chance to work on some of that software for that particular special
effect."
Carl Allison of Walt Disney Imagineering works hard and loves it. "At
Imagineering, we make the magic for all of the Disney theme parks, so one
would say that it is kind of a magical experience. But I think probably
the best part about working for Imagineering is knowing that [through]
what you're creating. . . , you have the opportunity to make a lot of
people smile and enjoy themselves."
Allison believes that hard work is key to getting a position at
Imagineering. "When I was in my previous job, I continually took
continuing education courses, professional courses. And I listed them on
my resume. . . . And when the people who were looking at my resume saw the
various different skills that I had or courses that I had taken, they
thought this was a good mix." But the hard work and study never stop. "I
think one of the most important things is to always strive to be on the
cutting edge. . . .I've been out of school twelve years now. I carry a
good collection of technical reference manuals back and forth from home to
work, so I can always stay up on the latest and greatest for either
software or something in electronics because you're always challenged here
at Disney."
According to Allison, hard work pays off in other ways. "In my career,
I've not had a problem with any race issue. . .that would hold me back
partly because of my personality. I'm a Type A personality. I'm always on
the edge. I've always tried to make sure that I excel at whatever I do."
He continues, "In my particular case, if there were any race issues,
either I was blind to them or I just ignored anything that came up. . . .
I was always told. . . when I was growing up to ignore those types of
things because they can only make you angry. So race has never really been
something that I've been concerned with because I know what I can do, and
I know how well I can do it. So I let my job skills speak for themselves."
The confidence that work and preparation give is invaluable.
Allison advises students to take the same approach when preparing for an
engineering career. He believes that it is essential to research the
fields one is interested in ahead of time. "If young engineers are not
aware of what a particular area or discipline is all about, they might be
getting into something that they may regret in the long run."
Furthermore, he strongly recommends that students follow a strategy that
worked well for him in getting his first position. "There were several
companies that I was interested in getting a possible interview with. . .
. And so I studied what the companies did. I said, `Well, I want to find
out exactly what it is that they do what their product is so that I'm up
on it, so that, when I'm in this interview session, I can answer the
questions intelligently.'" Showing serious interest in a company is a good
way for a student to make a strong impression because, at that point,
there's no past experience, necessarily, from a previous job.
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