Cal Poly Pomona students team with Walt Disney Imagineering

While most of the students at Cal Poly Pomona are on spring break, more than three dozen students and faculty members are participating in a unique collaboration with Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), the division of The Walt Disney Company in charge of  design and development of Disney parks and resorts worldwide. The Inaugural Bobby Brooks Memorial Charette for Entertainment Design runs March 23 through April 2, with sessions at the university, at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., and at the WDI headquarters in Glendale, Calif.

            This charette (an intense period of design activity) is a unique multidisciplinary event involving Cal Poly Pomona upper-division and graduate students in the fields of architecture, art, landscape architecture and urban and regional planning. Divided into four groups of eight, the 32 students are charged with coming up with theoretical design concepts for the large esplanade between the Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure theme parks in Anaheim.

            The teams are working daily throughout the week, aided by five faculty advisers. Walt Disney Imagineers also are working closely with the students, providing the framework and basic parameters for their designs, and explaining the context of the project.

The creative concepts are due April 1, with official team presentations scheduled for April 2 at the WDI headquarters. Participants receive consideration for an internship at WDI with the winning team members splitting a cash prize.

One of the best aspects of the event from a student standpoint is the ability to go all out - to express their ideas with a large degree of creativity. Plus, the students will receive four units of course credit for the project.

From the WDI standpoint, the purpose of this creative exercise is to develop a stronger relationship with the students and creative talent at Cal Poly Pomona and to encourage students to pursue careers in areas relevant to WDI's core line of business, such as entertainment design.

"This program will honor our late colleague, Bobby Brooks, in the same creative, collaborative spirit he brought to Walt Disney Imagineering," said Craig Russell, chief design & delivery executive, Walt Disney Imagineering. "By interacting with these Cal Poly Pomona students, we gain insight into the next generation of potential Imagineers while providing them with real-world experience."

The event is named in honor of Cal Poly Pomona alumnus Bobby Brooks, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2008. Brooks worked at WDI, beginning there in 1990 as a facility design manager. He worked on projects such as The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios, the Club Disney venues, and prototypes for several entertainment concepts, including ESPN Zone, Disney Store and Downtown Disney. Most recently, he was part of the Imagineering team working on a new urban entertainment concept.