Blog Post
NEP’s Engineering Internship Gives Students Hands-On Media Services Experience at Sports and Entertainment Events
During the summer of 2024, three current U.S. university students interned with NEP’s fiber shop and systems integrations departments, receiving hands-on experience with experts in the field.
Following their return to classes for the 2024 fall semester, we caught up with the students as they looked back on their summer internships to see how the program and experiences are preparing them for their careers.
Meet Ryan Ingram, who currently studies Electronic Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University. He recently completed the NEP Engineering Internship and had the chance to work on various projects with the team at NEP Rentals and Integrated Solutions in Dallas this past summer.
“Everyone on the team is both super friendly and knowledgeable, having worked on effectively every major sporting and entertainment event you can think of.”
Ingram learned about the internship through his chief engineer at 12th Man Productions, the Texas A&M production house for ESPN/SECN. He was also familiar with NEP from reading Sports Video Group articles.
“I started my summer doing quality control checks in the fiber department with stock ranging from 25’ TAC-12 all the way to 7000’ TAC-72 strand”, Ingram explains. “The rest of my summer was devoted to working on projects. I built out graphics boxes, pylon camera systems and a number of large format audio carts with all different kinds of microphones, IEMs and intercoms.”
Ingram also spent a day shadowing the team on NEP’s TFC-powered Supershooter 8 mobile unit.
“Knowing everything NEP Group is doing to support the biggest and most important shows in the country is a huge motivator and ensures you’re always at your best.”
Meet Aron Wright, the youngest engineer on staff at the University of Alabama, who is currently obtaining a master’s degree in journalism and media studies. He spent the summer as an Engineering Intern with NEP Group in Pittsburgh, PA.
Wright learned about the internship through former colleagues who are now mobile unit engineers for NEP. They encouraged him to take part in the program.
“The most rewarding aspect of the internship and working for an industry leader in general is that I was able to gain a significant amount of knowledge that has prepared me for my new role.”
Wright accepted a full-time position as a broadcast engineer with Alabama Athletics during his internship, and says he was able to incorporate new approaches to the program from his experiences with NEP.
During his internship, Wright worked with the systems integration team for the first half of the program and then in the fiber shop during the second half.
“I was able to help with the preparation of gear and assist in router and switcher upgrades for a couple of mobile units,” he explains.
“I gained many experiences at NEP that have prepared me for my career. I would say the most important ones are learning new troubleshooting methods for various equipment and fiber.”
Wright’s expectations for the internship were met.
“I feel like my work contributed to the success of the departments that I was in—and was greatly appreciative of the work that the engineers let me do.”
Meet Evan Wall, former NEP Engineering Intern who currently studies journalism and media studies at the University of Alabama.
“I think one of the best parts about working with an industry leader like NEP is being involved, even if only a very small part, in some big shows. It’s cool to be able to say, ‘I’ve seen inside that truck’ when watching a big show on TV.”
Wall interned this past summer at NEP Group’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, where he spent a lot of time in the fiber shop and with the systems integration teams working on various mobile unit facilities in and out of the shop.
“I was also able to watch as fiber was fixed and terminated and ask plenty of questions. At Systems Integration I was able to see and do small tasks on plenty of trucks as they were in and out of the shop as well as working to prepare equipment,” Wall explains.
After returning from the summer internship at NEP, Wall worked on a linear broadcast at school. When he ran into trouble with the SMPTE running to his camera, he was able to take it apart and fix it quickly with the skills he learned at NEP.
But the part he enjoyed the most about his internship? The people.
“The thing I enjoyed most about the engineering internship was the people around me. Everyone did a great job of explaining what we were doing, why we were doing it, and how things work,” Wall explains.
“I had plenty of questions during my time in Pittsburgh, and everyone I worked with did a great job of taking the time to teach me things I did not know.”
Know someone who would be interested in Interning at NEP?
Candidates must be current students, have a basic understanding of broadcast equipment and a passion to learn and establish new skillsets.
Up to four students are chosen each summer for the program.
APPLY by emailing our recruitment team at careers@nepgroup.com.
Recently graduated and interested in NEP’s Mobile Unit Engineer Apprenticeship Program?
NEP offers programs including tracks for broadcast engineers, LED technicians, commercial mobile unit drivers and more. Interested? Find out more and APPLY here.
