J - Austin 2005

Meet J - Extreme Blue Class of 2005

As an Extreme Blue™ MBA intern in Austin, J worked to develop a one-stop portal for executive decision making. J received his bachelor of science in communication (with a concentration in computer science) from Oregon State University in 2000. In 2004, J completed an internship for Key Bank Corp, where he helped coordinate and manage User Acceptance Testing. J was also co-founder/VP of MarketKnowledge, Inc (a consulting company that was later bought by Interelate, Inc.). He's now completing the JD/MBA program at Case Western Reserve University. J has U.S. and Canadian citizenship and has lived in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Why do you think you were selected for the Extreme Blue internship?

I think what sets me apart was my passion for technology. This passion really characterizes Extreme Blue interns—we have a desire to be on the frontier of developing technology. I not only have a general understanding of the technology, but also an idea of how to use it in our lives. I was inspired to apply for the Extreme Blue program because it's widely respected in the technology industry and has a fantastic reputation. The Extreme Blue internship is unique in that you get to develop a high-tech solution to a problem, from beginning to end—you get the whole picture.

What did you deliver to the final expo (at the end of the program)?

My team created a Web portal framework using WebSphere(R) Portal Server that accesses data sources across the organization to provide a one-stop portal for executive decision making. At the expo we demonstrated a fully functional system that showed the intelligent features, as well as the general practicality of information on demand.

Briefly describe what your day-to-day activities and responsibilities included.

I spent my time building the business case for the portal. My day included project management functions, building use cases, gathering requirements, performing research, and talking to the key stakeholders, as well as the many people contributing through report design, data source, and human factor analysis. Many days included presenting the project to visiting executives, other teams or groups interested in either contributing or just being aware of our project. Sprinkled throughout were sessions on BizTech, Legal, Intellectual Property, open source, MBA coaching, and mentoring. Many evenings were spent either at team, MBA, or alumni dinners discussing our projects.

As a business intern, what impact did the technical interns have on you?

My team was really great. I brought to the team an understanding of the business case for our project, and there is a lot of collaboration. They can say if we can functionally do certain things and I've certainly learned a lot from them. That has been one of the goals of Extreme Blue—to push MBAs to become more fluent in communication with technical teams, and the other way around.

Were there any surprises about this commitment?

Everyone was upfront about the commitment. I got a feeling of real exclusiveness when selected because of the competitiveness of getting in the program. I was surprised at how well-planned everything has been. From the first day, we were working on our project. Most internships take a week or so to get things going—we never had to wait with Extreme Blue.

How did your experiences prepare you for the Extreme Blue experience?

My love of technology prepared me for this experience. I'm always buying technology and making it interact...it's become a hobby. My business experience has given me practice working in teams and dealing with executives.

Do you have anything else you want others to know about Extreme Blue?

I think the program teaches you how special IBM really is— it's one of the leading research and development drivers in the world. I was surprised to realize the volume of innovation coming from IBM. The company is extremely forward thinking, pushing into new frontiers constantly.