Faculty

Mk Haley teaches the Art and Process of Entertainment Design at UCLA TFT. She has been with The Walt Disney Company since 1994 serving primarily with Walt Disney Imagineering — which focuses on theme parks, cruise ships, resorts and some consumer products — in both technical and creative roles. She has worked with virtual reality teams, R&D, special FX, Show Quality Services, Disney Research and Academic Outreach.  Her projects across physical and digital media have included those that focused on redesigning obsolete special effects with newer more energy-efficient options; developing automated processes to replace labor intensive manual efforts; and developing virtual communities within the company’s television brands, among many others.

Haley has been an educator for more than 25 years. In addition to UCLA TFT, she has taught Themed Entertainment Design, Building Virtual Worlds and Experience Design at Carnegie Mellon University and Florida State University with cross collaboration between divisions and disciplines being a core tenet of her teaching philosophy.

Haley also has active roles on both the SIGGRAPH Conference and Themed Entertainment Association committees. She recently helped kick off the first-ever Academic Symposium for educators in themed entertainment, co-hosted by the Themed Entertainment Association and the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA).