ENGINEER SPOTLIGHT: Oksana Wall - Civil Engineer,
Walt Disney
As a 13-year-old girl from Venezuela, Oksana Wall visited
Disney World in Florida, and the Magic Kingdom immediately
cast a spell on her. “I knew I wanted to work
for Disney,” Wall says. “It was such a happy
place.” Her father was an engineer, and she was
good at math and science, so she was already leaning
toward an engineering career. “But that trip made
up my mind.” Fast-forward 17 years, and the now
30-year-old Wall has worked for three years as a project
engineer for Disney’s Ride & Show Engineering
Group. She’s worked on such attractions as Rock
‘n’ Roller Coaster, Splash Mountain, and
Fantasmic. More recently, she helped with the installation
of the Mini-Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh at Disneyland
in California. Of course, Walt Disney Resort theme parks
aren’t the only shows in town. There are many
other theme parks around the country that require top-notch
engineering skills, as well as many engineering firms
that specialize in amusement-park attractions.
Wall received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering
from the Florida Institute of Technology. And she’s
been cited by the National Society of Professional Engineers
as one of the “50 Engineers You Should Meet.”
She encourages young people to consider an engineering
career, especially women and minorities. Engineering,
Wall says, allows her to use her knowledge, experience,
and creativity. “I have a blast at my job.”
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