Interview: Jun Lim, ISTP

• Features

• 30/07/2026

Few people working in professional AV today can claim a career arc as varied as Jun Lim’s.

Beginning in 1998 as a recording studio engineer at one of the largest studios in Asia, located in Seoul, Lim built his technical foundation in audio and acoustics before establishing Wild Grass Studios in the South Korean capital. For Lim, this was just the opening act.

In 2006, he relocated to the Philippines, and by 2009 was running a company focused on AV systems. A further move to Australia in 2016 saw him take on a role as an AV system designer with a systems integrator in Queensland, where exposure to industry bodies such as AVIXA deepened his interest in how standards could be more effectively applied in the field.

He obtained his CTS certification in 2019 after completing his time working in Australia. Lim’s education journey revealed to him that certifications such as CTS provide extremely valuable foundations in theory, standards, and system design, while practical field application is an additional layer that must be developed through hands-on experience.

When Lim returned to the Philippines and established ISTP in 2019, the intent was to bring those accumulated experiences to bear in a market he had identified as underserved and rapidly maturing.

Due to the pandemic in 2020, Lim remained in Korea and worked as a technical manager for one of the country’s leading integration firms. He returned to the Philippines in Q3 of 2022.

Today, ISTP operates across three divisions. Wild Grass Studios has been transplanted to the Philippines and counts among the country’s largest recording facilities. Alongside it sit a systems integration consultancy and a training institute that has now produced more than 1,000 graduates.

The education initiative, under the banner of Institute of AV Technology, consumes roughly half of Lim’s working week. The institute was conceived in direct response to two recurring problems Lim had encountered throughout his career. He explains: “The first is the shortage of properly trained professionals in the AV industry. This is not just a Philippine issue — when I was working in Australia and Korea, the situation was pretty much the same. It is hard to find professionals who have the background, knowledge, and experience.”

The second challenge, he argues, is the persistent gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world execution: “Most people working in SI companies will agree with this. Industry standards are either not considered or are difficult to implement on site. That often leads to systems not performing as expected, or even safetyrelated issues.”

ISTP’s curriculum was built to address both problems simultaneously. The institute currently offers structured training across eight subjects: audio, video, lighting, integration, networking, unified communications and networked AV, electrical, and system installation.

The emphasis throughout is on applied learning. Students are not simply walked through textbooks; they are expected to build racks, configure control systems, and work through real signal-path challenges with their hands.

Lim says: “In our training we have lots of hands-on work. We can talk about the gap between power cables in theory, but in our training, everyone actually builds their rack. They have to account for signal types and everything that goes with that. We want students to understand the theory, but also to apply it in real-world scenarios.”

That feedback loop extends beyond the classroom: lessons learned through training are actively fed back into ISTP’s project work, reinforcing a continuous cycle of improvement.

The approach draws a deliberate contrast with existing certifications. Lim holds his CTS in high regard but is clear that education is a path that must always be travelled: “CTS, CTS-I, CTS-D — these are genuinely great qualifications, and that is precisely why I pursued them, and these certifications provide excellent theoretical foundations, standards knowledge, and technical understanding. ISTP focuses on complementing that knowledge with practical, field-based skills.”

Lim is not alone in identifying this gap. Across Asia Pacific, a small number of integrators and distributors have begun establishing their own training infrastructure rather than waiting for the wider industry to catch up. In Australia, Pro AV Solutions has launched its own institute in conjunction with TAFE. In India, Lewminaudio is offering formalised instruction as part of its Techversity initiative. This trend, Lim believes, reflects a shared recognition that the talent pipeline cannot be taken for granted.

The broader opportunity in the Philippines makes the education question particularly pressing. Lim describes a market growing at five to six percent annually, with increasing activity in sectors that have historically lagged behind their counterparts across the world. Corporate and education projects — the bedrock of AV work in mature markets — are now becoming a meaningful part of the pipeline, alongside the entertainment and large venue sectors that the Philippine market has long been associated with. Global projects are arriving, and with them come expectations around quality and consistency that the local industry is still building the capacity to meet. Lim believes his efforts are poised to ensure that the potential is converted into actual growth by making sure talent is ready to step up to the challenge.

Lim is not content to limit his sights to just the Philippines. The challenge of ensuring talent is ready to realise potential is one that can be found in many markets. He notes a significant volume of inbound enquiries from integrators in the Middle East, whose companies are seeking structured technical training for their field technicians. It is a signal that the model has validity beyond its home market, and it informs the next phase of ISTP’s development.

Lim expands: “Moving forward, our focus is on building a more structured and advanced training ecosystem. We are planning to establish an international training centre in the Philippines. The goal is not just to serve the local market, but to support professionals and SI companies across the Asia Pacific region.”

The centre is intended to offer something genuinely differentiated in the form of training that is not only grounded in theory but deeply connected to actual application, with the practical infrastructure to back it up. Lim expects online delivery to extend the reach and hands-on components to anchor the learning.

What makes Lim’s position unusual is the breadth of perspective he brings to a market that often operates in silos. He has worked in recording studios and corporate boardrooms, in emerging markets and established ones, as a technician and as a business owner. Silos are converging and hybrid applications that pick the best technology stacks from different disciplines in service of creating applications that benefit users are becoming the norm.

Lim believes the diversity of his experience can help train talent to operate in the market today.

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