About Link

Link Engine Management is a global leader in motorsport electronics and performance technology. With over 30 years of product development, we have established ourselves as global leaders in engine management software and systems because we listen to our customers, and we are smart people who build smart products.

Link Engine Management’s success comes from our people, our vision, our aspirations, and our passion for success; this is why we demonstrate such high levels of employee engagement and satisfaction. While proudly designing and manufacturing our products in New Zealand, we now export to over 80 countries, and subsequently have teams expanding across New Zealand, United Kingdom, Australia, Europe and the USA.

Summary

PCLink v2 is the cross-platform successor to Link’s professional ECU tuning software. Its screens are unusually data-dense — hundreds of live values and fast-updating telemetry shown alongside interactive charts — so it needs graphics that stay smooth under heavy load. In this 12-week project, the intern will explore how to draw these charts efficiently: starting from existing high-performance charting tools, measuring where they struggle, and experimenting with ways to make them faster. No prior graphics-programming experience is required — you will pick it up with support from the team. The result is a working prototype and a clear picture of the best approach for PCLink v2.

Project Brief

PCLink v2 will replace Link’s Windows-only tuning software with a modern application that runs across platforms. Its interface has to display a lot of fast-changing data at once — roughly 100 channels updating about 60 times per second — together with interactive charts, without stuttering. Off-the-shelf charting libraries either struggle to keep up or are expensive to license, so we want to understand what it really takes to render this smoothly. This is an exploratory, well-supported project: the intern will begin with existing tools and examples, learn the relevant techniques along the way, and build up to a working prototype. It suits a student who is curious about graphics and performance; prior experience in those areas is helpful but not required.  

The student will: 

• Build a small data generator that produces realistic sample telemetry (about 100 channels at 60 updates per second) to test against
• Get a multi-channel, scrolling chart working using an existing web charting or graphics library (for example a WebGL-based library or Three.js) 
• Measure how it performs as the amount of data grows, and find where it slows down 
• Experiment with techniques to improve performance — such as drawing less detail when zoomed out, or avoiding unnecessary redraws — with guidance from the team 
• Compare a couple of different charting approaches or libraries and note their trade-offs 
• (If time allows) check how performance differs between browser engines (Chromium and WebKit), which helps inform later platform choices such as Electron or Tauri

The outcome will be a working prototype, a simple set of benchmark results, and a recommendation on the most promising approach for building PCLink v2’s charts — a solid, self-contained piece of research the team will build on.

Key Competencies and Skills Required

• Completed at least one year of a Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related degree 
• Comfortable programming in JavaScript or TypeScript, or able to pick it up quickly 
• Willing to learn new techniques and work through performance problems methodically 
• Enjoys working with data and cares about making things fast and responsive

How to Apply:

Please submit your CV and a cover letter clearly explaining why this internship is of interest and what you could bring to Link. Applications close 9th September