Extreme Blue
| Company type | Internship program |
|---|---|
| Industry | Technology, Software development |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | David Grossman, Jane Harper, Ronald Woan, Sean Martin, Morris Matsa |
| Headquarters | Cambridge , United States |
Area served | Worldwide (15 active sites) |
| Products | Technology solutions and business strategies developed by intern teams |
Extreme Blue represents IBM's internship initiative tailored for both undergraduate and graduate students, functioning as a vital source for recruiting future IBM talent due to its strong focus on converting interns into employees.
History
The inception of Extreme Blue dates back to 1999 when David Grossman, Jane Harper, Ronald Woan, Sean Martin, and Morris Matsa established it at the Lotus Software facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts. By 2003, participants had contributed to filing 98 patents.
In 2007, the program attracted 10,000 applicants vying for 92 positions within the United States and over 10,000 candidates competing for 220 roles globally. The UK segment of the program earned the "Over 250 Employees – Short term placement" accolade at the 2008 National Council for Work Experience (NCWE) awards. By 2009, more than 10,000 hopefuls applied for fewer than 50 openings in the U.S.
From its beginnings, Extreme Blue has grown to operate across 15 active sites worldwide.
Projects
Extreme Blue combines the expertise of IBM engineers, interns, and business leaders to create innovative technology solutions and business strategies for new offerings. Each summer, teams focus on swiftly developing prototypes of significant software and hardware products. Some of the prominent projects released publicly include:
- AmalgamR (2009) consolidates social data from various platforms such as Twitter to present pertinent group-related information.
- BreadCrumbs (2009) is an iPhone application that reads grocery barcodes to deliver details about ingredients, manufacturing origins, and recall notifications through IBM’s food traceability infrastructure.
- SMS for Life (2009) addresses malaria in Africa by utilizing mobile phones, text messaging, and web-based mapping tools to monitor and manage antimalarial medication inventories.
- exSEL (2007) serves as a marketing platform providing virtual tours and interactive experiences with exhibits at the IBM Solutions Experience Lab.
- SiSi Say It Sign It (2007) converts spoken English into British Sign Language using an animated digital avatar.
- Peridot (2004) identifies broken hyperlinks and aids in their correction; IBM secured patents connected to this innovation.
- GameGrid (2003) created a distributed computing massively multiplayer online game using the open-source Quake 2 first-person shooter engine.
North America
In 2004, North America hosted 44 Extreme Blue teams. In 2002, there were 101 interns representing 42 different educational institutions.
- IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California (operating since 2000)
- Four teams were active in 2009
- IBM Silicon Valley Lab, San Jose, California
- Cambridge, Massachusetts (1999–2004)
- Original site of Extreme Blue; no program held in 2001
- Raleigh, North Carolina (from 2002 to present)
- Initiated in 2002; Ross Grady has been lab manager since 2006
- Austin, Texas (since 2001)
- Marjean Fieldhouse has served as lab manager since 2015; Matthew Glover as technical lead since the same year
- Montreal, Quebec
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Toronto, Ontario
South America
Asia
- Beijing
- Bangalore (starting in 2004)
- Began with nine students divided into two teams
- Delhi (active since 2010)
- IBM Haifa Research Laboratory, Haifa