Alumni features

Peter - Böblingen, 2001

Peter joined IBM full time after graduating from the University of Stuttgart in January 2002. Why did Peter choose IBM? We'll, it was his Extreme Blue™ internship experience that swayed him into the decision. To be honest, prior to the Extreme Blue internship, Peter didn't expect much from the internship experience, especially since last summer was the first year for the Extreme Blue program in Europe, so he had no idea what to expect. He primarily accepted the internship because he wanted to get a snapshot of how a big company operates.

Now, Peter is a full-time employee working at the IBM Lab in Böblingen, Germany developing Linux for eServer. At the Lab, Peter enjoys the atmosphere, people, working environment, and more importantly, the presence of a 'good canteen', which he considers vital. Enjoy the interview below - and you can learn more about Peter's internship experience.

Q: Which project were you working on - describe it in your own words?

A: Our project at the Böblingen Lab was about taking handheld devices (namely some Compaq iPaqs), Linux, Java technology and Bluetooth devices and integrating these technologies into a system which would allow for easy communication with other devices, either of a similar setup or different hardware devices. As a standard usage example, our project team referred to the "Coffee Machine Scenario" in which a person with such a device could simply walk up to a coffee machine which would then allow (via wireless data exchange) access to all necessary control elements. The system was designed so that any necessary control software could be transferred from the device to the handheld computer. Unfortunately we never had access to any such programmable coffee machine... ;-) We also had problems finding a suitable bluetooth driver for Linux so that we reverted to using standard Wireless LAN Cards.

Q: How was Extreme Blue internship experience overall for you?

A: It was a really nice experience . On the one hand there was the technology itself. One doesn't often get the chance to play around with equipment that's all in all worth several thousand dollars. But then there were of course all the people - the actual team, our mentors, the department people involved and the students from all the other European projects. I really liked meeting everyone during the two central activities when all the teams gathered, once in London and then in Zurich.

Q: What did you learn? What skills have you developed?

A: "Skills" and "Valuable Lessons" may not be the right terms for my experience. Of course I learned about the technology we used and I was also able to somewhat practice my English skills during the meeting with the other international students. But what it really boils down to for me is best described as "insight" and "fun".

Q: How did you relate to your mentor(s)?

A: Our mentors were really nice and helpful. They were more like part of the actual team, listening as we developed our ideas during team meetings and giving hints on how to overcome problems, rather than just enforcing and supervising predetermined goals. And then, of course, they introduced us the local Lab's favorite "spare time activity" - tabletop football... We barely stood a chance.

Q: Was this networking valuable for you? Why?

A: It was interesting meeting some of the IBM leaders, both locally and from Europe, though at that time, I was more interested in what people said instead of what position they held within the company. Locally I think it was an advantage that some of the managers knew my name, a fact which eventually led to me to my current job.

Q: Comment on how Extreme Blue internship compared to other internship programs you've heard about or been involved with.

A: I'm not really that well informed about other internships. From what I've heard though, I'd say that the Extreme Blue projects are likely to cover more interesting projects (less everyday jobs), and also provide more ways for participants to contribute their creativity and own ideas.

Q: Were you impressed with the your Extreme Blue peers?

A: We were all well versed in the trade of computer science in our team and everyone had a field in which they knew more than others, so it was really more like a multi-directional flow of information rather than a unidirectional one which I associate with the term of "being impressed" by someone.