Kendrick Foo

YOUR TIME AT SURREY

The biggest pull factor for me to join the Film Production and Broadcast Engineering course was the inclusion of a professional placement, which at the time was not offered by similar degrees in other universities.

The video engineering industry is massive and will continue to expand at a rapid pace. A real highlight of the course was the variety of modules on offer, which meant there was a stronger chance of finding a niche or two you would enjoy after graduation; in my case, I found my calling in an industry focusing on Video over IP (Internet Protocols) and cloud transport of video. 

The module range also meant that everyone on the course had a good overview of audio production or RF distribution and modulation techniques, which may come in their future lines of work. 

My best memories of Surrey would definitely be my time with the society StagTV! It was where you would find me on most days getting involved in creative shoots, livestreams or simply hanging about in the old tiny office between classes with friends.

LIFE AFTER SURREY

I currently work at a company called Techex, which provides video over IP solutions for Tier 1 broadcasters such as Sky, NBC and Warner Bros Discovery, using our own software products and third-party vendor products. Even at an early stage of my career, I have been fortunate enough to design and support cutting-edge architectures that frequently combines traditional broadcasting principles with the agility of IP and/or cloud computing.

Outside of the office, my biggest highlight would be my involvement in industry events. In particular, I was invited to speak at SMPTE UK’s Young Innovator’s event at the end of 2022 to talk about broadcast gateways. The event was such a unique platform to bring together industry experts and students/graduates to talk about the next generation of broadcast engineers.

CHOOSING A CAREER

Like many secondary school students at the time, I had a pretty difficult time picking out what I wanted to do in university, changing my mind almost on a weekly basis. However, the combination of my heavy involvement with StagTV to put course material into practice as well as my placement year at Dolby made it easy to choose my current career path.

ADVICE FOR STUDENTS

The industry always has open arms for budding engineers to be involved in their broadcast events, so seek out opportunities for your professional placement or as a freelancer. Also, go to as many industry events as you can to see amazing broadcast facilities across the country and meet people already in the field. There’s massive power and benefits in networking with people!