IBM gives students Blue opportunity
IBM today announced the names of eight third-level students who have been selected to take part in its hotly-contested Extreme Blue programme.
One hundred and ten applicants attempted to secure a place on the innovative programme that gives Ireland's best IT students access to some of the world's most sophisticated labs and mentors in the technology industry.
For the first time, two female students join the ranks this year, which Bill Kearney, head of IBM's Dublin Software Lab sees as an excellent sign: "This year sees another strong draft of highly talented students joining the Extreme Blue project, and the fact that we have two women within the eight is an encouraging sign."
Oxford Student Mark Cummins also becomes the first draft to come from outside the Irish universities, though he will be returning to his hometown of Dublin for the duration of the project.
Over the next three months the Extreme Blue students - based at the IBM's Dublin Software Lab - will work on projects that will solve real business problems faced by IBM customers.
In teams of four students and three IBM mentors, each will work together on developing high-level software programmes that could potentially be used in IBM products across the world.
Mentors will come from various areas of the IBM business, and students will be able to utilise the expertise of some of the most experienced IT professionals across the world.
Students who took part last year filed patents and contributed to the development of ideas that have the potential for inclusion in IBM products.
Kearney said: "Many of those who worked on Extreme Blue last year have since been employed by IBM and if the opportunity arises this may be the case again in 2004.
“Even so, the students have a great opportunity to work with some of the most innovative professionals in the industry, and they will get a lot out of it"
On completion of their projects and before returning to college in September to complete their final-year studies, the students will be taken to the Extreme Blue EMEA Expo 2004 in the Netherlands to present the results to some of IBM's most senior Executives.
The successful students were -
Aiden Grandfield (University Limerick)
Angela Heenan (University Limerick)
Donogh Roche (University College Cork)
Graham O'Keeffe (University College Cork)
Mark Cummins (Oxford University)
Mary Lee (Trinity College Dublin)
Niall Murphy (Maynooth)
Amit Varma, (UCD/Smurfit School of Business)
The IBM Corporation first started operations in Ireland in 1956 and now employs close on 3,600 people in Ireland.
This makes IBM one of the largest multinational employers in Ireland.
