Jason - Cambridge, 2001

Due to his incredible internship experience, Jason is an 'avid evangelizer' of the Extreme Blue™ program at Tufts University. Before you hear about Jason's experience working at IBM, take a look at some of his prior internships. According to Jason, they were by no means, 'the making coffee types.'

Background experience
Jason was carefully selected for the Extreme Blue program as a result of his prior experience and significant accomplishments as an undergraduate student. Jason's main interests lie in web/internet technology and human-computer interaction. Prior to the Extreme Blue program, Jason worked at Pseudo Programs, Inc, the world's largest streaming media production company, where he played an integral role in developing and restructuring their interactive TV operating system and multi-tiered web architecture. In addition, while at school, Jason worked on a public web installation under the guidance of Andruid Kerne, an internationally renowned artist known for his work and theory on interactive learning interfaces. Jason is not all about computers and technology. He also enjoys a 'normal' life when not coding by playing sports, in particular basketball.

The Extreme Blue experience is in a league of it's own. "The Extreme Blue program stands on top is because it offers an opportunity to make things happen. Working with top technical leaders alone is enough to make the Extreme Blue program the creme of the crop experience, however, with the combination of cool kids, free housing (with ballerinas of course ...), amazing mentors, and a great work environment, nothing beats it". - Just to elaborate, last summer, the Cambridge students lived at Emerson College. The College also houses many other summer programs throughout the summer, including the Boston Ballet.

Life changing experience
Jason never thought a summer internship job could be life changing. According to Jason, "The Extreme Blue program was it! It was an amazing opportunity for me to work with a team of sheer talent and to be able to contribute my technical skills to a real world project. The resources and people at IBM are rock solid and have given me plenty of opportunity to stretch and exercise my technical skills. Deciding to partake in this internship has produced a handful of memories and a chance to network with some of the world's top talent. Above all, the diversity of IBM was the cornerstone of my experience. The people, the projects, and the passion together created a truly dynamic internship experience."

We all know that technical people see right through all of that 'marketing fluff'. The Extreme Blue program, according to Jason, was all that it advertised, especially the long hours, exposure to great technical and business resources, challenging projects, and a dynamic lab environment. "The Extreme Blue experience completely turned my attitude around with a treasure trove of resources and great people. It delivered on helping the interns exercise communication skills as well as technical skills. It delivered on building confidence, on fostering growth, and most importantly, it delivered on the fun".

Learning Experience
IBM is committed to nurturing its employees with endless challenges, aka as 'career growing pains', and continuos learning. Jason actually admitted that he gained knowledge in the realm of technical tools, software engineering tactics, as well as a newly inspired interest in Linux and open source technology. As a result of his experience at IBM, Jason feels that he developed a more mature approach to problem solving, a confidence to handle even the most difficult situations, and learned the value of strong communication and team collaboration. Jason now sees the bigger picture of the professional world and understands the importance of integrating communication and technical expertise. "Learning to bounce ideas off each other, to value every input, and to be able to mold brainstorming sessions into fruition was an intensely exciting experience".

Jason worked on a Knowledge Management project sponsored by Software Group. His team developed prototypes for visualizing information gathered by the Lotus Discover server. The Lotus Discovery System (LDS) helps firms discover, preserve and re-use knowledge assets through a sophisticated KKM tool with subject matter expert identification capabilities. The project resulted in providing further market innovation and differentiation by giving LDS new visualization capabilities to understand the ebb and flow of information , and helping diagnose the specific knowledge needs of an organization.

Networking Experience
It's all about who you know. The Extreme Blue staff works hard to expose top technical and business talent to our IBM's business and technical leaders. Jason enjoyed shmoozing because he learned first hand (not just what you read in the media) more about IBM technology, our vision, and what it will take to become a great technical leader one day.

Under the leadership of distinguished staff and mentors, the challenges were limitless. "The numerous opportunities to speak with distinguished names throughout IBM and to my fellow interns was an experience that cannot be taught in school". Jason has a good rapport with his project mentor, and still keeps in touch. The mentor experience was much more 'interesting' than he expected. Hey Jason - what do you mean by 'interesting?'

Jason was also very impressed with the caliber of his peers. Jason commented that the Extreme Blue staff did a 'phenomenal job' of selecting talented students that were both passionate about their work and other interests as well. "Sharing individual strengths and learning off each other added tremendous value to the experience. To this day, I keep in contact with most Extreme Blue peers".

New Experiences
Jason is currently a co-op at Lotus during the semester, and he has accepted a position with IBM working with the WebSphere Application Server development team in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jason is excited about his upcoming position and working with a talented team at IBM. This summer, the Extreme Blue program will open a lab in Raleigh, so Jason, you are always welcome to stop by the lab!

Author, Jean Grune, Extreme Blue Marketing