A Double Bill from Arqiva: Part 1

Media Technology students were pleased to welcome Tracy Bevin, Talent Coordinator for Arqiva today. Tracy came to talk about the services Arqiva provide and the opportunities available within the organisation. Arqiva provide the backbone for much of the communications infrastructure used for TV, radio, mobile and the Internet of Things (IoT) within the UK. They are almost completely unknown by consumers but are essential for the services provided by big broadcasters and mobile operators who rely on their satellite and fibre networks. The scale is incredible with over 100 Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) multiplexes, 1150 transmitters and over 100 terabits of data throughput every second. Tracy was joined by four recent Media Technology graduates who work across different areas of the company and wanted to share their experiences and enthusiasm with current students.

Peter Hill graduated from BSc (Hons) Audio Engineering in 2017 and now works as a Design Engineer based at Crawley Court. He highlighted the importance of the work experience and networking opportunities provided during his time at Solent. He highlighted the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) as a turning point for him, after which he completed an internship with Arqiva before applying for a permanent role. He has been working on clearing the 700 MHz band of the radio spectrum to allow future mobile services including 5G. This sounds simple but has involved upgrading transmitters and moving services onto Single Frequency Networks, which is challenging when there are so many overlapping sites and relays involved.

Josh Bessey also graduated from BSc (Hons) Audio Engineering in 2017 and now works as a network operator within one of the Master Control Rooms (MCR) at Feltham. He oversees the transmission of channels including configuring the networks for new channels and the occasional use channels setup for large events. He has thrived at Arqiva and has already found a specialism for which he is the expert within his team.

Daniel Johnston graduated from BSc (Hons) Broadcast Systems Engineering in 2017 and now works as an Antenna Design Engineer. His job involves surveying environments and working out the antenna types and gain required to provide optimal coverage for certain types of signals. Dan also mentioned the importance of work experience and advised trying a wide range of experiences to discover new areas and work out what excites you. His top tip for interviews was to think of a number of situations you’ve been in and discuss the STAR: situation, task, action and results.

Finally David Pearce also graduated from BSc (Hons) Broadcast Systems Engineering in 2017 has been working as a platform developer, using MHEG to provide red button services and applications for hybrid television.

There are several other recent graduates working at Arqiva who have graduated from courses including Live and Studio Sound, Sound Engineering and Media Technology. It was nice to hear they’re getting on and the value they’re adding to the company. Tracy was very keen to press the importance of their values of being Ingenious, Straightforward and Collaborative; she advised how important it was to have passion and a good attitude and how this was often more important than pure knowledge. Tracy has been impressed with our graduates so far and is keen for current students to apply for their engineering or technology internships. 

Tomorrow a group of students will be heading to Arqiva’s Crawley Court facility for a tour and some talks on the current technologies and innovations.