I am an upcoming graduate of New York City College of Technology with an Associates in Applied Science in Electromechanical Engineering Technology. Additionally, I am the AudioVisual Technical Manager at Harvest Fields Community Church (HFCC), in the Bronx, NY., where I’ve served for close to three years.

In my role at HFCC, I am responsible for all the technical assets of the church, which are used for services every Sunday and Wednesday, rehearsal on Thursdays, and various events throughout the year. I make sure that our audio, visual, lighting, and streaming systems are functioning properly. If any issues arise with the equipment, I am the primary contact for troubleshooting, repairing, or guiding volunteers to fix problems during our live services.

In addition to preparing and executing our live services, I assist the pastoral staff and administration in setting up, repairing, and making upgrades to our systems. When in-person gatherings were not allowed at the start of the pandemic, I helped set up and wire a new streaming system where Sony camcorders in our sanctuary would run over SDI to an ATEM switcher in another room to enable live broadcasting. For this set up, the audio was routed from an Allen & Heath SQ-6 mixer via ethernet to a computer in the same broadcasting room.

In addition to upgrading the streaming setup, we added four moving lights via DMX and a new lighting board. Since these upgrades, I have worked on several other projects throughout the building including repairing security cameras, running cable, soldering, and reorganizing XLR cables on our stage, and setting up service overflow rooms with a TV and PA system for simultaneous broadcast. Recently, I worked with the building maintenance staff to install a highend Vivitek projector, which required a custom bracket on our sanctuary’s cross beam and a dampener to reduce shaking. With this experience, I continue learning about new systems and how other churches are set up to find ways I could improve and what equipment we might need in the future.

Also, with this experience and many of my college classes, I have prepared to pursue a career as an A/V Installation Technician learning to follow wiring diagrams and technical manuals. I have done research and projects on how certain kinds of systems are put together and look forward to applying these skills and more to this job.