Alexander - Cambridge, 2001

Does the phrase "a worthwhile investment" turn you on? Do things like learning, challenges, and intense peer interaction on highly involved projects make you break into sweaty anticipation? You are not alone. Alex leapt at an opportunity not meant for the weak of mind - The Extreme Blue™ internship Program.

In the backwoods of Ithaca, NY, Alexander was polishing his skills at Cornell University so he could shine during his Summer 2001 internship experience with the Extreme Blue Cambridge crew. Not only was Alex stepping into a unique internship, but also his project itself was unique in comparison to the other Extreme Blue students.

Cool Projects
Alexander's project was in the Blue Gene group implementing a parallel I/O interface and infrastructure for IBM's Blue Gene supercomputer (IBM Watson Research). How did this measure up against his expectations? "Well, actually I heard about Extreme Blue from some of my friends in school, and so my expectations were pretty high from the very beginning, " affirms Alex. "From my past summer experiences it was very rare that interns were allowed to work on truly some of the most vital parts of it. However, in Extreme Blue, almost all of the projects focus either on creating an intricate new feature for an existing product, or designing and implementing a significant part of it's infrastructure. It's simply amazing that college students are given an opportunity to be exposed to this kind of experience and can enjoy so much creative freedom at the same time."

We all want to be challenged, right? On your resume, I'll bet it doesn't say "Looking to barely contribute in a noncreative environment where the daily tasks become more and more mundane," now does it? Extreme Blue gave Alex the opportunity to apply his skills in an area that he'd never been involved in, and I'm not talking macrame. Parallel computing is what took our guy for a spin, and according to Alex, designing and implementing a Parallel Input/Output architecture for a super computer is by no means a trivial matter. "While working on the project, I learned a great deal about how to create and implement efficient algorithms for parallel computation. Since the team was very involved in the actual design of the infrastructure, I learned how to visualize and organize one's idea in a very big project, how to use software engineering concepts to step-by-step build an extensible system. Besides learning the technology behind the project, I also learned how to communicate the complexities of the system to other people outside of the group.

Innovative People
Take a trip over to dictionary.com and query "mentor." You'll get " to serve as a trusted counselor or teacher." Often, in the typical run of the mill internship, a mentor could be defined as "the person behind that closed door who MIGHT have time for you." Where did mentors fall on Alexanders radar screen? Since the project mentors were based in Watson, while Alex and his fellow team members worked at the Extreme Blue lab in Cambridge, much of their interaction was via remote channels such as Sametime and Notes, when the mentors could not be on-site. Of his mentors, Alex found, "they were very impressively qualified and knew how to explain things very quickly and efficiently."

The students Alex worked with were some of the most talented people he's ever seen. Diversity is the spice of life, right? In this case, because of the diverse projects, Alex was able to see different perspectives, technological interests, and backgrounds at work. Each of these unique views and talents them combined to solve the problem at hand. With an environment conducive to open communication, "people shared insights and shot ideas back and forth almost constantly."

A Networking & Learning Experience
What happens when you are involved in an awesome project and you interact with amazing talent, and then no executive level folks see your work? Usually, you end up banging your head against the wall. Not so with Extreme Blue. Thanks to the numerous visits by IBM executives, the students get an opportunity to explain what they are doing, and why they are doing it to people of various technical and nontechnical backgrounds. The ability to successfully explain what it is you're working on to a person with a different outlook and background is very important.

Alex felt that "I got a better understanding of how different types of executives think relative to the goals they have to accomplish in their day-to-day tasks. We were also introduced to the executive hierarchy in the company and were amazed by how vast IBM is in almost all technological areas."

Life After his Extreme Blue experience
Where would you find Alex Kordun now? He has placed himself happily as a Software Engineer in Lotus Domino.Doc team. He credits his choice with the way IBM presented itself through the internship. Future job aspirations? Swimsuit model? Nope. Sit-Com script writer? Nope. Alex plans to glean as much possible from his experiences within IBM and see where that leads him. Would he recommend Extreme Blue to other students? "100%" Any questions?