Summer Internship @ IBM Research Lab

I can either write about my project and bore you with technical details or simply write about my experiences beyond the project in Delhi. I will for obvious reasons choose the latter, also because that part is more dear to me.

For the first time I was working in a company. The atmosphere was different from my previous internship - lot many people to interact with, very friendly people - you could almost sense the corporate atmosphere where developing a network is highly essential for professional growth. But behind this corporate outlook was a very human touch. My interaction was not just limited to the large groups of interns with diverse backgrounds, but to the very friendly employees as well. There were interns from across the world, spanning universities such as CMU, Rice University, Wright State University, various IITs, IIITs and many more. There were different kinds of people - the extroverts, the silent ones, the geeks, the treat-seekers, the treat-givers, the always serious ones and many many more types. We had formed a really close group and looked forward to the frequent treats, weekend outings and movie shows. The daily tea breaks often extended from 30 min break to 2 hours by our long chats and TT matches. I made some great friends and hope that we stay in contact in times to come. An IBM Summer intern'11 reunion would be legendary.

Besides the interns, the employees too were amazing. There was a lady from Watson Research Lab who had come to Delhi for a six-months visit. In this small time, she had started a noble work of teaching the slum children living next to our office. She gathered a group of IBM employees, and taught the kids and their parents twice a week. I too went with her - the affection that the kids had for her and that she had for the kids was humbling. She brought them gifts, took them for movies and taught them with dedication in spite of the language barrier.

The employees there were very helpful - be it helping me with my essays or helping me select my BTP topic - they were eager to help. There was so much to learn from those highly experienced and knowledgeable researchers.

IBM organized a lunch party with mentors and other researchers, the hilarious chai with dude session (imitating the Koffee with Karan interview style), the enlightening talk by the IBM India Research Director, Manish Gupta and the fun-filled outings to Fun-n-food village, movie show and a mall. This summer was in-all a memorable experience.