Waldner received his engineering degree in mechanical engineering from the Université de technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard in 1983, his Dr Engineer in Electronics in 1986 from the École Supérieure d'Électricité, and his Dr Eng. in Nuclear Science and Engineering in 1986 from the Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires.
In 1986 Waldner started as consultant for the French Information Technology and Services company Bull, where he specialized in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM).