By: Greg Bolton, third-year Broadcast Engineering Technology student at Loyalist College
I am a third-year Broadcast Engineering Technology student at Loyalist College. While there are still a number of months before I graduate, I’ve already secured a job in my field as a designer at an audio-visual company. There is a demand for skilled engineering expertise, as every radio and television broadcasting and satellite distribution system runs on complex systems of hardware and software. With so many broadcast engineering technologists retiring, employers are just waiting for students in the program to earn their advanced diplomas in June. For me, that was a huge selling point of the program.
Instead of attending college out of high school, I tried my hand at being a musician and paying the bills with a job at the local Walmart. After almost six years, I decided that I needed a change. I spoke with Professor Tim Rorabeck, who is also the Technologist for 91X, the Loyalist radio station, about the new program he was teaching. He asked me, “Do you like working with your hands?” I said yes. “Do you like taking stuff apart?” Yes. “Do you like TV and radio?” Yes. “Sold; you’d love this program.” I enrolled that day.
As a child, I was very inquisitive. I would disassemble old toys and electronics to see why they worked the way they did. The Broadcast Engineering program allows students to be 100 percent hands-on, which is imperative when learning at the level that the broadcast industry requires. From day one, we’ve been able to play around, take apart, and connect pieces of broadcast quality gear. This gives us a familiarity with the equipment and processes that most people don’t have when they join the workforce.
The professors are the first to say, “Why don’t you try this?” Having the opportunity to interact with professionals who have worked in the field is one of the best ways to learn. To be able to ask the professors how they got to where they are today is an asset. Hearing their experiences lets us know, as students, that we can forge our own successful paths. The professors encourage questions and take time to respond and work with students one-on-one. In addition, the program advisory committee is made up of industry executives from all the major broadcast organizations, just looking for people like us.
We get a lot of practical work experience outside the classroom too. In the first year of the program, I completed a 30-hour placement at Rogers Radio in Kingston. It was my first time out in the field, seeing how everything worked, and a very exhilarating experience.
In the second semester of the second year, I did a four-week internship at a design company, which turned into a summer job. This third and final year, we will complete an eight-week internship. I am planning to return to the company with which I interned.
My personal career goal is to become a project manager. However, there are so many directions a student from this program can go; TV, Radio, Manufacturing, just to name a few. The opportunities are endless.