Now when I look back at last one year of my life, and try recall which would be the best thing that happened to me, then I without taking a fraction of second I will say Extreme Blue. Extreme Blue 2010 was really an experience of lifetime. Here I will try to help you understand what's so extreme about Extreme Blue.
- Extreme Projects: The best thing about the extreme blue program is the project. Interns get to work on a real-time project which is either a client project or a research project in any of the cutting edge research areas. All the projects are selected by the IBM employees after a rigorous selection procedure carried out by them and only the best few make it to become an EB project. All the projects are selected with one key thing in mind and that is Innovation. All the projects are open for a lot of innovation from interns and often IBM convert them into some form of IP. Through the program, interns have submitted more than 400 patent disclosures and have made more than sixty open source contributions to the open source community. They helped create solutions for key clients and bring-to-market the next generation of IBM products. And all of this in just 12 weeks.
- Extreme Technologies: Then the next most important thing is the technologies that interns get to work on. IBM provides students with all the cutting edge technology available to the interns whether in terms of software or hardware.
There were many times during the project when I needed certain hardware and all I needed was just to make a request and I could get access to the best possible system that suits my requirements. I had access to machines from Bangalore to Ottawa at the prime of my project. In terms of technology I was exposed to some of the cutting edge work that is going on in Virtualization. My project helped me to learn a lot about Linux Kernel, The IBM's J9VM and many key concepts of modern virtualization techniques.
Interns get opportunity to work on technologies like Cloud Computing, Web 2.0, Artificial Intelligence and petabyte-scale data analysis. - Extreme Connectivity which leads to Extreme Guidance: After having an extreme project and some extreme technologies to work on, the next thing that any intern would wish is Extreme Mentoring, and it is exactly what he gets! The mentors are very helpful and I must admit they are the masters of their game, so interns can always count on them. Apart from the mentors assigned to projects, interns can always seek help from any other person who they think may be helpful. Everybody is very helpful and the EB tag will always help you to get their attention ;)
During my project there were instances when I took help from experts of particular field sitting across the globe (From China to Canada) and got the solutions to my problems in moments. Once I had trouble with one of the software which was still a beta release and my mentor connected directly to Author and Architect of the software! - Extreme Visibility: Next thing that any intern would expect from an internship is visibility of work and I feel there could be no other internship opportunity which can provide you such a platform to present yourself among the best in the industry. The projects of Extreme Blue are in limelight since their beginning and the leaders of the field love to track them. The Extreme Blue program culminates with a ceremony called as the Extreme Blue Expo where interns get the opportunity to present their work in front of the executive leaders of IBM.
During my project I got the opportunity to present project to likes of Director, Java technology at IBM and CTO of cloud computing at IBM. And the Expo was attended by many prominent IBMers including the top most officials from management as well as HR ;). - Extreme Fun: Other than all extremities of project the EB team also works hard so that interns can have extreme fun. They organise fun trips where interns can chill out during weekends.
Other than these fun trips there are other fun activities that interns may enjoy. They even celebrated my birthday by throwing a treat to all the interns and mentors and also gave me a birthday gift. - Extreme Exposure: If still someone is not satisfied or expect more, then interns also have the opportunity to attend talks delivered by prominent IBMers on various cutting edge technologies which are delivered exclusively for the EB interns. Interns also get to know more about different divisions inside IBM by visiting them and meeting people who work there. Hence, no doubt interns are exposed to IBM and its work culture to best possible extent.
I think these are the sufficient reasons to make any internship program extreme. At least for me I had an extreme experience at Extreme Blue 2010. Apart from working on an extreme project and having extreme fun, I made some extreme friends and worked with an extreme team! Extreme Blue was the best learning experience till date in my life.
Aaah.. I forgot one very important characteristic !! STIPEND !! No doubt it is extreme too, IBM pays well in its premiere internship program :)
