The Pixar lighting director from “Coco” and “Wall-E” is speaking on campus Thursday, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. in the Advanced Technologies Building (building 7) as part of the College of Engineering’s Diversity and Inclusion Speaker Series and the Inclusion Starts With Me Teach-In.
Director Danielle Feinberg will be recreating her popular TED Talk in a discussion titled “The Art and Science of Bringing Imagined Worlds to Life.”
“One of the goals of the Dean’s Diversity and Inclusion Series is to bring people that can come talk on campus that have had their own personal experiences in what diversity has meant to them,” College of Engineering Interim Associate Dean for Diversity and Student Success Eric Meheil said.
Feinberg’s most famous TED Talk, “The magic ingredient that brings Pixar movies to life,” discussed her personal challenges of being a female in a male-dominated field.
In her TED Talk, Feinberg remembers being told she could never make money as an artist, so she became interested in the blending of math, technology and code to create stories. After graduating from Harvard University with a degree in computer science, at age 23 Feinberg became a leading technical director on “A Bug’s Life,” overseeing a team of nine male designers. Eight of them older than herself.
Since first learning how to code at eight years old, Feinberg encourages young girls to learn more about technology, Meheil said.
Feinberg began her career at Pixar in 1997 and her film portfolio includes “Monsters Inc.,” “Ratatouille,” “Toy Story 2” and “Finding Nemo.”
“The Art and Science of Bringing Imagined Worlds to Life” is free and open to the public.