Disney Research and Development

[pomprocker]

http://www.disneyresearch.com/

https://disney.recruitmax.com/main/careerportal/Job_Profile.cfm?szOrderID=183511&szReturnToSearch=1&szWordsToHighlight=

[pomprocker]

This brings up some questions....


I will have my BS in comp sci sometime in 2010 so that should take care of the degree requirements.

Now how to I become a "certified" researcher? Can I do it from home? or do I have to be associated with Academia?

Can I write and submit research papers on my own or what?

Any answers along these lines would be great

[SciTech02]

Being someone who wants to get into the scientific research field as well, I believe that a BS will not take care of the degree requirements (They were looking for PHDs on the second link you posted).  You don't have to be affiliated with Academia, but it helps (they try to encourage you and give/let you use their tools to do your own research); but it seems that research can be done anywhere, as long as you document it and publish it in a journal specific to its subject (they may be other ways to publish it as well).  Papers submitted to these journals undergo a review process to see if they are serious enough for publishing (you probably have to show that you are a creditable person too and not a Joe six-pack that thinks he discovered a cure for Cancer).  The largest problem of conducting your own research is that it is entirely funded by you: you might be able to apply for a research grant (to cover your research, living expenses, etc.), but as a single individual without affiliation to a university or other entity, it would be difficult.  Research can be done at companies and government agencies too: the research would probably belong to the company/agency, but your name would be on it, so it would count as your research (I think?).  Summary: a "certified" researcher is someone who has done research with a creditable person or entity (a PHD graduate is all these).  Therefore, you would be considered creditable yourself and so your research would get published.  My advice, try undergraduate research, many universities offer this and it should help "certify" you.  Perhaps a BS will be enough and if your previous research projects are interesting enough, you'll get a job (Admin said somewhere on this site that's what he did for his "robot fish" project at the navy, and he doesn't have a graduate degree that I know of).

Have you read the webcomic "Piled Higher and Deeper"?  It's mostly about graduate school and academia (Basically a "Dilbert" for Academia), but jokes about Science and research frequently come up (most of the characters are engineers).  Here's one I think everyone here would enjoy (it's also relevent to the topic): http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=961

I hope this helps you.

PS: This is my longest post, but a lot information was asked for.

[SciTech02]

For some reason, "Disney Research and Development" sounds funny to me (just imagining Mickey Mouse in a lab coat is funny).  It reminds me of a satire news video from The Onion (about Disney geneticists creating Disney channel stars).  Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZgXg_7kVI8

Don't get me wrong, I think the Disney company conducting research is cool and I  wouldn't mind working with them myself (I'm not trying to make fun of you).  It's just Disney, a company that's famous for cartoons and child related stuff, is conducting hardcore scientific research.  It's kind of like IBM getting into children's television programing (It doesn't make sense).

[pomprocker]

Disney will pay the big bucks for bleeding edge technology that they can incorporate into their entertainment

[SciTech02]

Disney will pay the big bucks for bleeding edge technology that they can incorporate into their entertainment

True, true.  That explains the whole "imagineering" concept they talk about in their parks and behind-the-scene videos.  They used this concept to create their animitronics in the mid 20th century (quite advanced for that time and probably the first time robots [if you consider them robots] were used for entertainment).  Perhaps they still are developing technology that's ahead of our time...

[Admin]

PhD requirements are set by employers who know nothing/little about the field of the persons they are attempting to hire. I don't blame them for this understandable policy, but having a PhD doesn't mean a person is competent.

If the company already has a robotics engineer, just prove to him that you have the skills and he'll hire you college degree or not.

(I occasionally hire robotics engineers and that's my policy)

[szhang]

I was suprised that Disney opened a research center at CMU.  Not that I am complaining, after all, they sign my paychecks...

A good reason for getting associated with academia is for the research money.  There's money in industry too, but the focus is slightly different.

As for degree requirements, I think PhD's are more of a requirement in academia than in industry, though Imagineering isn't completely focused on churning out products, but more just trying out new ideas and things that haven't been done before, which is rather similar to academic research.

[Admin]

I was suprised that Disney opened a research center at CMU.

I'm not surprised at all . . . They are interested in CMU's Entertainment Technology Center. They pump out some really impressive work and graduates. Disney just wants first picks

This is the center that Randy Pausch cofounded (famous for The Last Lecture).

[jamort]

Yeah Pausch worked for imagineering... I went to the ETC like a week before his death