Case’s IBM Extreme Blue interns can "trump" apprentices
any day
Students develop new business concepts, products,
often end up with job offers from IBM
January 5 , 2005 | For more information: Susan
Griffith (216)-368-1004
Business Magnate Donald Trump may have his apprentices, but IBM has
its highly competitive “BizTech” interns who spend the summer
on dynamic teams developing new business concepts
or products through the IBM Extreme Blue internship program.
Jeffery
Hunter, a January graduate in computer science
at Case Western Reserve University, was among four
Case students who participated as one of the 200 top interns in the
highly selective and premier industry internship program. And like Trump
looking for his apprentice, IBM uses the summer internship as an opportunity
to find new employees.
Along with Hunter, Thomas McConnell, another
Case computer science major; Catherine Kegley,
a computer engineering major; and Michael Dolan,
M.B.A. candidate at the Case Weatherhead School of Management, were
IBM Extreme Blue interns.
The interns know what
it means to be in the hot seat and make that important
presentation for the team’s project
before the big boss—Sam Palmisano, CEO of IBM—and other
senior managers at the company.
Last summer, Hunter
participated as a technical intern on a team from
IBM’s Extreme
Blue lab in Raleigh, N.C., that was developing
software, “Extreme
Web,” to assist novices
in using new Web technologies. The project was
sponsored by IBM’s
Emerging Technologies group. Other members of his
team were from M.I.T., Duke University and the
University of Florida.
Kegley, also located in Raleigh and working on
another software project, added that “we were given mentor and
technical advisors to help us along the way. Because
of the immense independence, we learned the importance
of team work, critical thinking and thinking outside the box.”
Near
the end of the internship, the interns flew from
North Carolina and other sites around the country to IBM headquarters
in Armonk, N.Y., to present their software prototype and business plans
to senior management.
Hunter’s group also had to spend a long, hectic night on Madison
Avenue in New York City where they put finishing
touches on their project for its debut during a press conference attended
by such publications as eWeek and LinuxPlanet.
“We were a little
sleep deprived, but fortunately our demo worked,” exclaimed
Hunter.
Each Extreme Blue internship group is comprised
of three technical interns and one M.B.A. intern.
The experiential learning opportunity has students
working on cutting edge technology at IBM and developing
business plans and strategies to launch products.
The program combines the honing of technical, business
and communication skills. Students are mentored
by IBM employees and exposed through presentations
and meetings to new technologies in the field.
Dolan
was the lead M.B.A. intern on his project in San
Jose, Cal.. He managed a development team on a
Linux project. He focused and worked with business strategy, legal and
researcher and development groups to design a solution to solve a business
problem presented by IBM’s chief information officer’s office
and met the needs of potential customers. His team
also was charged with finding funding to continue development of their
project and also bring on a full-time IBM team in Yamato, Japan, to
continue the work once the interns left.
Dolan considered his summer
a success as the application was released to 30,000
IBM users a week after the interns left.
The IBM
interns live and work together, much like Trump’s apprentices,
where they can share ideas away from work setting
and build friendships, but without the stressful edge of facing the
boss in the board room. In addition to the presentation before IBM’s
CEO, this ranked as one of the high point of the
summer for Kegley.
“As a computer science major, this internship
helped me understand and appreciate the business
decisions that must be made in the course of a software development
project,” said
Hunter. “In the end, you can have the
best technology in the world, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t
explain it to people or show them why it’s valuable to them.”
Hunter
also found the experience gave him a number of opportunities to develop business
skills. “Each team gives a four-minute pitch to a visiting executive,
and each week the teams are required to rotate the person giving that presentation,” said
Hunter. “Even as a technical intern, I got the experience in giving a
business presentation.”
Kegley agreed that developing communication and
oral skills was an important part of the summer experience.
The exposure to
the business side of technology has given Hunter,
potentially, a new career direction.
“Being immersed in a culture
where business and technology are intertwined has led me to strongly
consider getting an M.B.A.,” he said, adding
that he is taking a finance course in the fall—something he would not
have done a year ago.
Like most internships—or like Trump’s apprentices
looking for job—Hunter
and the other Extreme Blue interns attend an IBM job fair to learn about
company employment opportunities and meet with hiring managers from all
its divisions.
“The next day, I had five interviews,” said Hunter.
IBM’s Industry
Solutions tapped Kegley’s expertise for their banking and finance
sector in Austin, Texas.
But IBM is not alone in spotting some of the
brightest and best in the field, other companies target Extreme Blue
interns as potential employees. Apple is one. Apple hired Hunter for
a software engineer position after his graduation in January, and Dolan
is still considering numerous offers.
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally
recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering,
Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
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