Vlad - Almaden Research Center, 2002

It wasn't long ago that Vlad thought IBM was outdated, conservative and not open to innovation. Little did this computer science major at Cornell University realize how big a shock was in store for him this summer.

"I have to admit, this summer's internship drastically changed my perception of IBM," says Vlad. "Having worked with the research department, I realized the innovation potential of IBM and the variety of its offerings. The diversity of IBM's divisions and the presence in many core segments of the technology market makes it one of the most complex and interesting high-tech companies in the world."

According to Vlad, a unique feature of the Extreme Blue™ internship was the overall atmosphere and balance between remaining challenging yet fun. "This was definitely the most intense and rewarding internship I have had to date. Instead of being handed mundane tasks and re-doing something that was done a thousand times before, my team tackled a prototype project employing the leading-edge technology from the research division. Large responsibility, creative freedom, and high level of expertise of everyone involved have resulted in the extremely exciting project experience."

Vlad says the small-team, fast-track nature of the project added to the excitement. "We were introduced to a completely novel technology, unlike anything I have previously worked with in academia or industry, and used it to add new functionality to an existing IBM product." Vlad adds that the development team was kept small and efficient, which resulted in great communication and overall productive environment. "The team consisted of very experienced and capable developers--allowing us to resolve blocking issues quickly and stay on target."

In addition to excellent mentors, Vlad thought the lab environment was also exceptional. "The lab environment allowed us to exchange ideas freely beyond the bounds of the individual teams, while also providing productive work environment, free of distractions. We also combined work and play--with entertainment opportunities ranging from remotely controlled videocam and Sony Playstation to Nerf gun battles and late-night sightings of deer flocks by the lab."

During the course of the internship, Vlad was exposed to considerable networking opportunities, with people coming in to give the tech talks in the lab, matching interns with buddies within IBM divisions, and full-fledged career fair at the headquarters after the projects' presentations. "We were able to learn more about the different aspects of the company and those who wanted to pursue further possibilities with IBM had a great chance to do so."

After completing his last semester at Cornell, Vlad plans on joining the Copy Protection and Software Tamper-Proofing research team in Almaden. "My advice to anyone considering the Extreme Blue internship is to expect anything--and then some. If you're longing for coffee maker supervision and long data-entry sessions, then you would be in the wrong place. However, if you're looking for a chance to work on a new area of computing, and have an opportunity to innovate, and work on something fresh, then the Extreme Blue program is for you."