180 students from five continents and 30 nations concluded their internships at 17 IBM research and development facilities; in Europe, the closing event “Extreme Blue Expo” with 86 students from Germany, France, Ireland, Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland was held at the IBM laboratory in Böblingen to present the results of their work.
On the IBM “Extreme Blue” trainee programme, elite students develop cutting-edge solutions and appropriate concepts for genuine problems in information technology. Two months of intensive work and a lot of expertise have gone into each of the 18 projects. The students were given the opportunity to independently carry out their projects in collaboration with leading IT experts. Nothing was to limit the young creatives in their enthusiasm or the pursuit of their research; they were able to use and deploy the latest technologies available to the corporation. Under the heading “Cool Projects, Innovative Teams, Dynamic Places”, the 18 European teams worked on the core themes of Social Networks, Communities/Web 2.0, Enabling Development, Data Management, Data Centre of the Future, Future Business Opportunities, and Real and Virtual Worlds & Sensors.
The Extreme Blue Expo motto: Work hard & party hard
86 students from 25 countries and five continents were guests for two days at the Böblingen research and development centre, where they enjoyed a comprehensive programme and Swabian hospitality. True to the motto: “Work hard & party hard”, ten weeks of tightly planned projects and intensive work were followed by a closing celebration where enthusiasm and good vibes were the order of the day. The recreational fun began on the day of arrival, when everyone involved - students, supervisors and mentors - went for a punt, accompanied by a few drinks, on the Neckar in Tübingen.
On the first Expo day, project presentations were held at strict 7-minute intervals and 17 teams presented their results. Some of the ideas put forward by the students highlighted the way to a new IT age. They impressed observers with innovative concepts for developing new technologies, offered entirely new approaches in the service business and for deploying humanitarian aid. Some projects were carried out as client co-operations or were independent research projects. Two Extreme Blue projects are still in the confidential phase and are taking place in collaboration with international IBM partners from the pharmaceutical and semi-conductor industries; therefore the presentations of the 18 teams were held behind closed doors, to an IBM team of experts and the Extreme Blue students. During these two days, interested guests and the laboratory audience were invited to “Extreme Blue Expo”, information booths where the students presented and explained their projects by means of demos and posters. In the evening, a gala dinner attended by the students, their guests and IBM executives was held in the laboratory canteen. That meant time to party, with lots of fun, music and dance. The hardcore party people later ordered a stretch limo and continued to celebrate in a Stuttgart discotheque until the early hours.
The second Expo day saw the Swiss team and IBM Extreme Blue co-operation partner NXP from the Netherlands take the stage.
It was an XXL event for all Extreme Blue Expo participants, featuring vast amounts of adrenaline, stage fright, success and fun. The emotional high point – at least for the male participants – came with the gripping tabletop football tournament, in which the French squad took the trophy with flying colours, ahead of two German teams.
Extraordinary commitment and passion were the teams’ outstanding features
The new German Managing Director of Research and Development, Erich Baier, was pleased to open the 10th European Extreme Blue Expo and honoured to welcome the top students to the Böblingen Lab. The innovative potential of the projects and the diversity and professionalism of the presentations were an absolute highlight for him, and he admired the students during their appearances and at their information booths, where they displayed a great degree of creativity. Erich Baier: “At Extreme Blue we meet highly talented people who approach challenging projects creatively and without prejudice. This gives rise to innovation, and that is what we want to promote. In competing for the best talents it is becoming increasingly important for us to break new ground in recruiting and to gain the loyalty of potential employees as early as possible. The Extreme Blue and Speed Teams student internships have proven themselves to be effective programmes for this purpose.”
As a technology expert and IBM Executive with worldwide responsibility for the IBM POWER Systems, General Manager Ross Mauri flew in from the USA to take part in evaluating the concepts and project ideas at the European Extreme Blue closing event. In his speech he motivated the students for an international career at IBM. He was impressed with the knowledge, the energy and the enthusiasm of the students, who made incredible ideas come true in a very short time. Ross Mauri: “I was energized by hearing about the incredible thinking that went into the projects. This Expo was for you – you made the very best out of it. Thank you for your passion and contribution to Extreme Blue and IBM.”
Linda Sanford, Senior Vice President Enterprise On Demand Transformation, is responsible for the transformation of the IBM Company and one of the most successful and respected women at IBM. In a video message, she addressed the Extreme Blue alumni and thanked the talents who had travelled to Böblingen from all over the world in order to present their impressive innovations. For Linda Sanford, trainee programmes like Extreme Blue are very useful and important, as they are a rich source of future innovations and inventions. Linda Sanford: “Innovation has changed over the years. It is no longer only the genius in a class who makes inventions - innovations arise from open cross-continent collaborations, when young talents with fresh thinking work together.”
For the Böblingen Extreme Blue organising team and German Extreme Blue manager Michael Stetter, it was a very successful event that impressed and fascinated everyone who was involved. It was the open-minded, fresh manner and creativity of the students, paired with the knowledge and experience of the mentors, that imbued the Extreme Blue and Speed Team projects with an exceptional spirit. The diversity of the people and topics was a decisive success factor. 97 students took part in the European Extreme Blue and Speed Team projects. Michael Stetter: “The collaboration of these talented and highly motivated young people from technical and economic disciplines holds an enormous potential for innovation, which was presented in a professional and fascinating way at the Expo 2008.” In the next step, the results of the Extreme Blue projects will be reviewed by IBM experts; if the results are feasible, they will become IBM Emerging Business Opportunities, making the work of the students reality and creating real customer solutions and products. The Extreme Blue programme, which IBM initiated in 1999 with 25 students in the USA, has earned the company over 430 patents to date.
