Representatives from an award-winning sound engineering company reached out to potential interns and employees Thursday, speaking to about 30 engineering students at the Technological Institute.

Northwestern’s chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers invited representatives from Niles, Ill.-based Shure Inc. to campus to discuss the company and internship opportunities for students.

“IEEE has connections with industry and we’re able to bring people in for presentations related to information on (students’) career search,” said Passant Karunaratne, the group’s vice-president. Karunaratne, a McCormick graduate student, said the group plans to bring other companies to campus each month.

Shure was the largest for-profit employer in Evanston, which was home to its headquarters for 50 years, before the company moved to Niles last year. The company develops sound equipment, most notably wireless microphones and receivers, used and endorsed by artists including the Dixie Chicks, Coldplay and Usher. Last spring, Shure became the first microphone manufacturer to win a Grammy award for outstanding technical contribution to the recording industry.

“It’s a really fun industry, especially for someone who is an engineer and a musician” said Rick Waller, one of Shure’s application engineers. “It’s a really close-knit industry and it makes it really easy to network around to manufacturers.”

Ken Platz, who manages Shure’s acoustical engineering department, explained that when developing sound equipment, the company divides specialists from different areas including computer and electrical engineering into small groups that develop products from conception through production.

“This team takes a lot of (pride) in their product and there’s a lot of competition (between production groups),” Platz said. “They have their own parties, but that’s another story.” Platz added that the company’s product development plan has been copied by others in the industry — and with good reason. Shure’s SM57 and SM58 microphones are the best-selling microphones in the world, Platz said.

Platz said he enjoyed the opportunity to advise students interested in his area of work.

“We are in the hands-on side of the company so we’re trying to give insight to engineers of the future for how we develop things,” he said.

Jody Koplo, a McCormick sophomore, said he found the presentation informative and engaging.

“It wasn’t just a presentation of what they do,” Koplo said. “It was why they do it. They went into the technology behind the actual systems which was really cool.”