Internships:
IBM was a founding partner of the Industry-Based Learning (IBL) program at Monash's Clayton School of Information Technology. The program, which started in 1998, has Bachelor of Business Information Systems (BBIS) students undertake two 22-week industry placements as part of their courses. This real-world experience is viewed as a major differentiator of Monash's BBIS degree for potential students and employers.
"IBM has been involved in the IBL program right from the beginning; IBM's then managing director Brian Finn was the driving force behind it." said Ian Martin, Lecturer at the School of Information Technology and coordinator of the IBL program. "IBM also encouraged some of its mainframe customers such as Coles Myer and NAB to join the program and even seconded a marketing person to help start it up." |
IBM remains the major partner in the IBL program, taking in more students for six-month internships than any other company. Students appreciate the opportunity to work at the coalface and gain valuable technical, workplace and life skills.
"Internships give us a great opportunity to preview the talent coming into the industry." said Jeremy Crooks, Internship Program Manager at IBM. "The interns do real work that contributes to our business. We expect them to have a strong foundation in technical knowledge, but we're also looking for professional skills such as communication, tenacity, creative thinking and the ability to work in a team."
The IBL program delivers results: all graduates of the BBIS degree in 2005 found work in the IT industry. An industry placement often leads to a job with the same company after graduation if the student and the employer find they like each other.
"The majority of graduates we recruit have already done an internship with us." said Crooks. "Each intern is evaluated as a potential graduate recruit and if the results are positive, they're fast tracked.
"Graduates who have done an internship operate at very high level. They already know what's expected of them and how they can contribute. This is a great benefit to IBM. It lowers our recruitment costs and increases job satisfaction."
IBM sits on the IBL committee and advises on issues such as changes to the curriculum to ensure it remains relevant to needs of students and the marketplace. Recruitment:
 Monash gives IBM considerable access to all its IT students for recruitment.
"We set aside a day for IBM and other IBL partners to come in and do their recruitment pitches for the students." said Martin. "IBM is very active in getting to know the student population. Often their recruitment staff and the students already know each other from placements, job interviews or seminars".
"IBM recruited more of our 2005 graduates than any other IBL partner. IBM recruits a lot of our best students, usually before they graduate."
IBM is also supporting Monash University's Women in IT program to encourage more women to take up technology degrees and seek employment in the industry.
"Every company says to me, "How do we get more women into IT?" said Martin. "In 2002, around 45 per cent of students in the IBL program were women; now it's more like 30 per cent. Some girls' high schools have dropped their IT programs due to lack of interest. IBM is a good place for women. A lot of companies talk about work-life balance but IBM actually does it."
"This is a true partnership between IBM and Monash University." said Crooks. "Monash gives us high-quality interns and graduates to help us meet our staffing needs, and students gain valuable and relevant work experience as part of their degrees."
Research:
Research and development is a vital part of IBM's global focus on developing more innovative products, services, business models and business processes. IBM spends US$5 billion worldwide, including A$55 million in Australia, each year on research and development. Relationships with local universities and research organisations are an important part of IBM's success.
"As a global company, IBM needs to get access to the best researchers, wherever they are in the world." said Glenn Wightwick, head of IBM's Australia Development Laboratory. "Australia is a mature IT market with significant depth of skill in research, development and problem solving.
"There is a lot of interest in the academic community in areas such as web services, sensor networks, multi-core processors and security. IBM is also investing in research in these areas."
IBM awards millions of dollars each year to universities and researchers including those in Australia and New Zealand. Monash academics have been beneficiaries. IBM's Shared University Research Program works with leading academics in fields such as life sciences technology, business services sciences, high-performance computing, semiconductor manufacture and sensors and actuators. IBM's PhD Fellowships give researchers – including several Monash PhD students – opportunities to work at IBM research labs around the world. IBM also gives faculty awards to researchers working in promising areas of technology.
IBM recently granted a Faculty Award to Professor David Abramson from Monash University's Clayton School of Information Technology for his work with IBM's Eclipse open source software development framework. Professor Abramson and his colleagues have developed a technique for testing and debugging software called 'relative debugging', which involves debugging software by comparing it with similar software.
"The grant from IBM really helped us kick the project off." said Abramson. "Compared to other integrated development environments, we found Eclipse was much more open, flexible and powerful."
One of Abramson's PhD students is now working on a debugger for grid computing – distributed computing systems that share resources across a variety of technology platforms and operating systems.
"IBM works with Monash University to identify suitable projects for funding and helps the university apply for the awards." said Jay Hannon, University Relations and Development Manger, IBM Australia and New Zealand. "We also go in to bat for Monash to highlight the worthiness of their applications to the awards committee."
Academic programs:
To address the IT skills shortage and develop the talent needed to drive innovation and growth, IBM contributes a wide variety of resources to Monash University academics and students through its Academic Initiative Program.
"IBM has worked closely with higher education since the 1950s, when we helped develop the world's first computer science degree." said Margo Robertson, Academic Program Manager at IBM Asia Pacific. "Around the world, we give universities free access to resources such as IBM software and hardware, course materials and textbooks and education for faculty and IT staff."
For example, IBM gives Monash Senior Lecturer Dr Sita Ramakrishnan and her students access to IBM Rational software development tools as part of the coursework for the Bachelor of Software Engineering degree. Staff can also download resources such as IBM software tools and Redbooks technical guides. IBM sends visiting overseas experts to meet with Monash University faculty.
"In August 2006, we held a three-day workshop for senior Bachelor of Software Engineering students in the use of IBM Rational software testing tools that was delivered by one of the world's leading Rational technicians." said Robertson. "This is the first time we've tried something like this in Australia and we hope we can build on its success."
Lecturer Dr Jana Polgar uses IBM Rational software tools to teach subjects on modelling distributed applications and enterprise portals. Dr Polgar recently visited IBM's research laboratory in Boulder, Colorado and discussed opportunities to use IBM resources to enhance the curriculum.
"Universities in the US have very similar problems to Australia attracting students to IT courses." she said. "IBM showed us examples such as the University of Colorado where IBM developed services for students and teachers that helped make the courses more attractive.
Dr Polgar also talked to IBM about the possibility of developing coursework around the emerging discipline of IT services.
"IBM is leading the IT industry in the new disciplines of IT services science, management and engineering." said Robertson. "Through its partnership with IBM, Monash University can take the lead in developing an IT services curriculum."
Future opportunities:
These are just a few examples of the wide range of projects IBM and Monash University collaborate on. This work extends beyond IT into areas such as life sciences technology and business services.
"We are constantly looking for opportunities to boost our existing relationships with Monash, said IBM's University Relations Manager, Jay Hannon. I'm always happy to hear from people if they have suggestions of new or better ways we can work together."
This customer story is based on information provided by Monash University and illustrates how one organisation uses IBM products. Many factors may have contributed to the results and benefits described; IBM does not guarantee comparable results elsewhere. IBM is not in a position to verify the accuracy of the information or any claims made by third parties.
Trademarks: IBM, the IBM logo, TotalStorage, POWER5, pSeries, iSeries and the On Demand Business logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries or both. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. References in this publication to IBM products and services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates. These services are provided by IBM Australia Limited |
