As Northern Kentucky University’s media informatics program continues to grow, so do the opportunities. This summer, two students from the program will travel to Lithuania for a five-week internship in 3-D animation and modeling.

Cincimedia, a local branch of the e-sense Group, worked with NKU to set up the internships.

“These internships are all expenses-paid and the students will get paid while they’re there,” Anthony Deiter said, associate professor of media informatics. “It’s a great opportunity not only because it’s real experience working, but also because they’ll get to learn about another culture.”

Lithuania was established in 1990 after the fall of the USSR and is located in Eastern Europe, northeast of Poland.

“Lithuania is really a hotbed for new technology right now and they are pretty hungry for young talent,” Deiter said. “The simple fact that those students will be in the international professional realm is pretty unique and paramount.”

After the internships were drafted, Deiter had a wealth of information to teach his students before they would be able to qualify.

“I had to get them up to the level Cincimedia was looking for. They really took off,” Deiter said.

Right now, four students are in the running to be offered this internship, but only two will get go. Deiter passed the selection process to Cincimedia to alleviate having any personal bias on who gets to go.

One of those candidates is senior electronic media broadcasting major Alex Day.

“I’ve always wanted to go out of the country, but not by myself,” Day said. “This internship would give me an opportunity to do that in a secure environment while learning cutting-edge computer animation with this right-out-there group.”

The winning candidates will be announced during finals week.

“We heard about it in March, and I’ve been thinking about the opportunities in my head ever since,” Day said.

The internship is not only attractive to the media informatics program, but could also be a asset for the university.

“It really matches the talent imparitive and vision of the university to have an internship like this one,” Communication Department Chair Gaut Ragsdale said. “What a great way to develop talent at NKU. Send students oversees to get world-class training and give them an opportunity to see the world.”