Chris Pike

Towards the end of my degree at the University of York I was fairly unsure of what to do next. I was enjoying engineering and programming but I came from a music technology background and I didn’t want to lose touch with the creative/media side of my interests. Working at BBC R&D is perfect for this because as well as tackling engineering problems you get to see the applications to creative processes first-hand which is really exciting. It also gave me the chance to live and work in a big fun city which is not that common in this line of work. I was over the moon when I got the job and it has taken a while to sink in..

My first placement was on the Audio in Production project. I started there because I came from an audio engineering background. I worked on a prototype for the ITU recommendation for subjective loudness measurement. This allows monitoring of multi-channel audio levels on a scale that correlates more closely to how humans perceive loudness. It involved analogue electronics and embedded system software development. The meter that I developed is being trialled in Broadcasting House and Television Centre. I also created test signals for the recommendation which were shared with the EBU technical group.

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I then moved on to the Biomechanics Models project. This project is looking at methods to incorporate biomechanics, the study of movement in living things, into sports analysis during the Olympics in 2012. I loved this work, it’s really interesting and I learnt a huge amount. I joined the project at the beginning so I had a real chance to steer its direction. I visited sports scientists around the country, attended athletics meets, talked to producers and worked on computer vision applications. Some of my code is now in graphics software used in broadcasting worldwide. That’s exactly the reason for doing this job, and it feels really rewarding.

Recently I have been doing some work outside of R&D as a consultant in the wider world of BBC technology. I have been investigating new tools for journalism, audio processing tools for use in IP-based production and editing and playout workflows for radio production.

As well as my main projects I have taken part in some great side projects/prototypes. For example, I worked on a pan-industry demo of surround sound DAB at the Radio Festival, the UK’s first surround sound radio broadcast. It was transmitted over a national DAB network and received and decoded to 5.1 surround in a BMW sitting outside the festival venue. In another project, I led a team of engineers, working with some practicing artists, to produce an interactive installation that was exhibited as part of the London Design Festival. It also won an award at a European electronic arts competition in Barcelona.

In the later part of the training scheme I have been given a lot more responsibility and opportunities. I have represented the department at conferences and exhibitions, and had input to research strategy in the audio area. I’m now at the end of my training and I’m going on to work on audio engineering research in the North Lab.

The training at the BBC is excellent, both for technical knowledge and general skills. In this department you are also surrounded by people with a huge range of experience and a lot of knowledge. It’s pretty inspiring and you are constantly learning. I get the feeling that it will carry on like that for many years to come.

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