Meet Extreme Blue alumnus Mark
San Jose - Spring 2005

In San Jose, Mark worked on the simpleMOD Extreme Blue™ team as a technical intern in spring 2005. He is currently completing his master's in Computer Engineering at the University of Florida (Class of 2006). Mark also received his B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Florida and is originally from Tampa, FL. He enjoys watching sports (specifically the Florida Gators), playing with his dog, playing videogames, and surfing in his free time.

What were your expectations? Did the experience deliver on those?

Initially, I though my project wasn't going to be that interesting (the initial title, "On Demand Maintenance Monitoring," just buzzes with electricity, right?), but I knew that the internship would provide me with valuable technical and business experience. However, once I got to Almaden and met everyone, I quickly realized that this project was going to be very exciting and had the potential to make a very large impact on a piece of software that has great significance to IBM. I'd say that my experience exceeded all of my expectations.

What did you learn? How has the experience helped you professionally?

I learned quite a bit about the software development process and life in general in a large company like IBM. My previous work experience had been in small development companies and IBM was a refreshing change. Professionally, I now know quite a bit more about what I want from an employer. Skill-wise, my communications skills are leaps and bounds above what they were before my internship, and I've become much more proficient in the technologies used in the project.

How did you relate to your mentor(s)?

I felt that we related to our mentors very well. While we understood that each of us was better at different technologies (one of our mentors has been writing PLX for the past 20 years, most of the technical interns develop in Java™), we were both working towards a common goal. I hope that our mentors were as pleased with us as we were with them.

Comment on how the Extreme Blue internship compared to other internship programs you've heard or been involved with?

Extreme Blue certainly wasn't the standard "make copies and get coffee" internship that you hear about. On the other hand, you're not going to be absolutely worked into the ground. There were plenty of scheduled or unscheduled things to do with the other interns to unwind and keep the experience light.

Were you impressed with your Extreme Blue peers? Do you keep in contact with them?

I was impressed with their both their educational credentials and technical abilities. There were a lot of really smart people in the lab. It's only been a little while but I have kept up with my closer friends.