Ferraco’s Interest in Technology Opened Doors to ESPN

Ever tune in to WatchESPN on your computer or mobile device to view a live stream or replay of a sporting event? Well a Tartan helped put the product together as senior men's soccer player Mike Ferraco spent his summer as an intern at ESPN in Bristol, Conn.

Ferraco is an information systems major who chose to attend Carnegie Mellon University due to its prominence in technology, the opportunity to compete on a men's soccer team at the collegiate level, and its proximity to home so his family, which is all about soccer, would be able to watch him play.

A Penn Hills, Pa. native, Ferraco first became interested in computer science during high school through an influential teacher and knew he wanted to pursue a major in technology. After communication with head coach Arron Lujan and an alum, Ferraco turned to information systems to pursue a medium between the technical side of computers and business.

Through two summer internships, Ferraco experienced both the business and technical sides of a profession in information technology and came to realize where he would like to end up.

"While working at General Electric as an IT Sourcing Intern, I realized what I don't want to do," Ferraco said with a smile. "I worked on business requirements for their internal web applications by documenting changes and sending them to the web developers in a PowerPoint presentation which was a little boring for me."

The following school year, Ferraco took a few web development classes, became very interested in it, and decided to look for internships only dealing with technical web development, where he would be working with coding and interfaces with which people interact.

That's when he landed the internship with ESPN and the WatchESPN team, where he worked on coding for the web for all platforms; mobile phone, XBox, computer, iPad, etc. Through this job he could see changes he was making.

"I worked on both front end and back end applications," Ferraco said. "It was cool because I could call my brother and ask if he was watching a game and show him a change I made for the viewer experience."

Ferraco also made the job a little easier for the entire web team at WatchESPN, as he developed an internal application to organize images to load on the pages.

"Before, the content guys would have to ask a coder to load an image," stated Ferraco. "Through the application I developed, the images could now be uploaded automatically by the content person and placed where they wanted them to go, so they had all the control."

Ferraco credits his course work at Carnegie Mellon for preparing him for the responsibilities he was given at ESPN.

"Although the language I used was different than what I learned through my course work, the principles were the same," Ferraco said. "So transitioning from that course to the internship was pretty easy."

"Everything I've learned here [at CMU], I was able to use there, and I was really prepared for it," Ferraco continued. "I think they were surprised at how prepared I was when I got there. I learned a lot, but they didn't have to teach me too much from the start."

Ferraco's opportunities to work with technology and coding didn't start or stop with his internship at ESPN. As a junior, Ferraco worked for Disney Research on campus as a web development intern and also helped with IT related tasks. The database he made in the spring was used throughout the summer by the research group to help keep track of computer use by the department. Ferraco was welcomed back to the department this fall to continue work on the database and other tasks needed to help the research run smoother. His time at Disney has also helped the researchers spend more time on research and less on IT.

Both technical opportunities have helped Ferraco realize he'd like to find employment where he can physically be involved in the building of a product.

"Ideally, at some point, I'd like to be a manager on a technical team that's building the next big product," Ferraco said. "Organizing what's being done, how it's being done and still being involved in the technical work because I like building things that people are able to interact with."

"That's what was most rewarding at Disney," Ferraco continued. "I was able to see they were using and interacting with the thing I built."

While in Bristol for the summer, Ferraco took the opportunity to tour the New England region on weekends, visiting beaches along the Long Island Sound, viewing mansions from the Newport Cliff Walk in Newport, R.I., day trips to New York City, and eating at famous restaurants his roommate would find from the Food Network Channel. He also took in the sights and sounds at ESPN, where he ate lunch alongside the new anchors, ran into celebrities in the hall, and met U.S. Men's National Soccer Team star Jozy Altidore.

"I heard Jozy Altidore was coming for the day so I texted a few interns who were working in radio and I got to shadow radio for the day," Ferraco said. "I was able to meet him and walk around with him a little bit which was pretty cool."

Ferraco also worked on his game during his time in Bristol with a Premier Development League (PDL) team, CFC Azul, which he got in contact with through Coach Lujan and his club coach from high school. Although he didn't roster with the team or play in games, the senior was able to train a few times a week after work with high-caliber players from Division I and other high-level ranks.

"It was really great to play with them [CFC Azul] and be able to train three days a week for two months to get me ready for this season," Ferraco said. "The competition there was great and I was really glad I was able to do it."

"You could tell Mike's time with the PDL team was positive," said head coach Arron Lujan. "He came into preseason really fit and sharp which helped him to be ready to go and it has shown throughout the season."

Ferraco and the men's soccer team are currently 14th in the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Rankings and ranked second in the Great Lakes Region with a 10-2-1 record. With three games to go in the regular season, the Tartans are tied for second in the University Athletic Association (UAA) with a 3-1 mark and continue UAA play on Friday, November 1 at Case Western Reserve University (6-4-4, 1-2-1) with a Sunday match at 19th-ranked University of Rochester (11-2-1, 3-1).