The Design and Engineering track provides students with an opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of technology design specifically for the built environment. Students will gain a real-world perspective of the entire architectural design process, from initial project requirements gathering and conceptual planning through bid and construction documents and ultimately commissioning to understand how a design comes together from inception to turnover. Students will explore current and emerging audiovisual technologies related to displays, loudspeakers, microphones, cameras, and lighting to understand how those components serve those experiencing them in a space and how they can be tastefully incorporated into a design without feeling like an afterthought.

Students will assist Pershing staff with real-world projects through product research, design iterations, calculations, documentation, and reviews. Students will not be expected to produce complete deliverable packages or client submissions, however may be asked to produce meeting minutes and other subcomponents of a design submission. 

Students will also be given a practicum assignment at the start of the internship. This assignment will be outside of any actual client project and will be a product that the student may take with them as a portfolio piece at the end of the program. The practicum assignment will be a small project that a student will be able to execute over a simulated timeline from inception and concepts through construction documents. Students will produce iterative design submissions consistent with those that might be included in a real world project at each project phase (i.e. Concepts, SD, DD, CD). Each milestone submission will be reviewed by Pershing staff, with comments provided back to the student to be incorporated either into a correction or in the subsequent milestone submission. The culmination of the practicum will be a design presentation to the Pershing design team.

Example Project: Milestone-Based Practicum  

• Milestone 1: Draft a concept design for a single space (e.g., a classroom or huddle room).

• Milestone 2: Conduct product research and justify selections.

• Milestone 3: Complete one or two detailed design deliverables (e.g., floor plan, signal flow).

• Milestone 4: Present their work to the team.

The Programming & Commissioning track is designed to give students real-world exposure to the fundamentals of AV system control, software tools, and commissioning processes. Fellows will explore the full lifecycle of programming—from understanding design intent and translating that into user interfaces, to hands-on training with control systems, development environments, and device frameworks.

Students will begin with foundational training on AV devices, communication protocols, and the role of programming within integrated systems. From there, they’ll dive into interface design and touch panel development using industry-standard tools like Crestron’s VTPro-e. Fellows will also gain practical experience with control system configuration and file management, and receive structured training in programming fundamentals using C# and Pershing’s MAVE framework.

Through each phase, students will complete guided exercises, system buildouts, and simulated commissioning tasks. They will not be expected to deploy production-ready code but will contribute to internal documentation, participate in testing environments, and assist with code-based troubleshooting.

Fellows will also complete a practicum project, starting with a blank project framework and progressing through project setup, control panel layout, device integration, and interface functionality. At the end of the program, students will present their working demo project to Pershing’s programming team as a portfolio piece to showcase their skills and understanding.

Example Project: Programming Practicum

• Milestone 1: Set up a new Crestron project file and configure control hardware
  
  

• Milestone 2: Build and test a custom touch panel interface
  
  

• Milestone 3: Program basic device interaction using MAVE framework components
  
  

• Milestone 4: Present the completed system with live demo and walk-through