SMPTE UK held its annual Young Innovators events for students, early career ‘techies’ and media engineering professionals at the start of this year. The two events, one at Sky’s HQ in Osterley and the other, held at the University of Salford (MediaCityUK) and sponsored by Techex, aimed to bring together the next generation of technical talent and industry professionals.
The events enable the organisation to play a part in addressing the industry’s challenges around the next generation of talent by showcasing what it means to work in media technology.
According to Carys Hughes, SMPTE UK manager, the core ingredients of the two events are simple: to bring the right people into the room to form connections, and give those who are starting their careers in the industry the opportunity to talk about their own technical projects and career journeys.
“This has lots of positive by-products,” she says, including helping employers to better understand where they could be looking for media tech talent, advocate for their own disciplines, as well as allowing the next generation of media technologists to make connections, identify skills, and visualise their place within the industry.
“We establish a safe opportunity for first-time technical presenters to present their own projects in front of an audience, and early career engineers can discuss their roles and career journeys on panels,” explains Hughes.
That opportunity for early career professionals to step on stage and share their ideas is particularly valuable in helping to build confidence in a supportive environment, agrees Polly Hickling, SMPTE’s education vice president. “Visibility matters; it helps address ongoing diversity challenges around who gets a voice in our industry, while also giving those a few steps behind a clearer, more tangible sense of what progression can look like. In that way, it becomes a bridge between aspiration and reality, strengthening the entire SMPTE ecosystem.”
At the heart of Young Innovators is the desire to unlock the UK’s potential media technology talent and connect it with companies that are looking for their skills, whether that be in London or elsewhere. “We can’t do that effectively if we don’t successfully engage industry more locally,” states Hughes. “So, as well as meeting our desperate need to scale, working hard with our North team to regionalise this initiative was always the right thing to do. We also want to empower new media technologists to take early ownership of their place in the sector, via their closest active SMPTE community.”
This year’s events saw engagement from across the UK. Among the panels and presentations were 10-minute ‘lightning talks’ which spanned a mixture of academic and professional projects. Subjects included AI tracking for horse racing, laser-disc film restoration, AES67 monitoring, and virtual production infrastructure management for live events. Attendees heard from solutions integrators, product systems engineering, a post production product specialist, camera specialist and VFX generalist.
Among the highlights at the South event was the opportunity for attendees to get ‘hands-on’ with special workshops, giving them a snapshot of media technology career paths that exist at Sky. “That’s valuable for both students and academic faculty, and is made possible by an army of awesome, passionate colleagues (and stakeholders) across Sky Sports, Sky Production Services, Content Technology and Innovation, and Global Product,” states Hughes. “This year, 50 students spent time rotating through an array of technical specialisms within Sky’s flagship studio and then heard from engineers working across post production engineering, production engineering, origination and distribution, and display engineering. It’s bonkers, but the absolute best.”
Feedback from attendees of both events has been positive, with students finding it helped raise their awareness of the opportunities available in the media technology industry. For those already on their career path, Young Innovators offers an opportunity to engage with talent and gain a clearer understanding of what students and potential candidates are interested in.
“I hope attendees left feeling both inspired and reassured,” says Hickling, “inspired by the possibilities within the industry, but also reassured that there isn’t a single ‘right’ path into it. More than anything, I’d want them to feel a sense of belonging; that there’s space for their ideas, perspectives and skills within media technology.
“Practically, if they came away with a clearer understanding of how the industry works, a few meaningful connections and the confidence to take their next step, then the event has done what it set out to do.”
Asked if there are any changes they would consider making for the 2027 iteration, Hughes says SMPTE is always keen to represent the breadth of technology disciplines within the organisation’s remit, but admits that can be challenging. “We want to see more industry [members] get stuck-in regardless, as it’s to everybody’s benefit,” she adds. “But I’d love to see us strengthen relationships with technologists in post, VFX and areas of non-live production in the UK. And we want to enable the wider SMPTE Community to run with this concept where they are, too!”
- The full article appears in the latest issue of TVBEurope, available to download free here
