First Bytes Summer Camp 2004

One of the campers’ stops was the Austin Research Lab, where Ann Marie Maynard, director of the Austin Center for Advanced Studies, talked to them about IBM research and her experience as a woman in the computing field. She pointed out that going into engineering does not necessarily mean becoming a Dilbert-like slave of the cubicle: “A big part of my life is my work here at IBM, which I love. But I’m also a mom and enjoy directing a nonprofit cultural center during my time off.” Campers also went to see Anne Gattiker of the Tools and Technology Team, who introduced herself as a “chip manufacturing person.” She talked to the students about what she considered the main benefit of her job – flexibility. “Working in the lab, we’re not just interested in making products that are going to be sold right away. We have the pleasure of looking forward to the technology of tomorrow.” In addition, Gattiker and Maynard, who both received doctoral degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, briefly discussed the wonderful time they had in graduate school and encouraged their young audience to consider pursuing advanced degrees. As the final part of their walk through ARL, the girls met Meghann Palmer of the Tools and Technology Team and Eric Van Hensbergen of the Power Aware Systems Team.

Jessica Lowry, Summer Intern, with Carolyn Feigenspan of the AIX Product Test Tools Team and Susan Caunt of the Mid-Range SFI Team

First Bytes participants were next taken on a Hardware Tour. They learned about integrated system tests and were shown the UPT MegaLab by Carolyn Feigenspan of the AIX Product Test Tools Team. Then Susan Caunt of the Mid-Range SFI Team walked them through the Hardware Bring-Up Lab. She introduced the students to one computer capable of running up to sixty-four operating systems simultaneously without any drops in their individual performance. She also showed the group something rather unexpected, a child’s colorful pinwheel that was attached to the counter and spinning rapidly because of the air blowing through the machine next to it. Caunt explained to the girls that some solutions to problems in the lab are surprisingly simple: “Since that machine doesn’t have any light to indicate whether it’s on or off, the pinwheel is the only way we can tell.” As Caunt bid the girls farewell, she asked them to think about becoming interns at IBM and benefiting from the opportunity to work with one of the Austin site’s thirty-six different groups.

Go engineers!

A third destination for the First Bytes visitors was the Pervasive Computing Lab. Robert Chen, a summer intern, served as their tour guide and gave everyone an inspiring glimpse into the future. In the model living room, he showed campers how IBM’s “Via Voice” could be used to make the hassle of getting up to manually close the blinds or dim the lights a thing of the past. In the model kitchen, the campers witnessed all sorts of intriguing devices, including a Whirlpool Polara Range capable of functioning as both oven and refrigerator. Another feature of the ultramodern kitchen was an “intelligent counter” with the ability to warn of potential adverse drug interactions based on the particular combination of medicine bottles placed on top of it. The “intelligent refrigerator,” aware of all its contents and able to generate shopping lists and recipes accordingly, was just as impressive. Finally, the campers moved on to the lab’s model car and listened to “Old Time Rock & Roll,” the song they had downloaded to the vehicle from the living room.

The girls’ response to their IBM tour was overwhelmingly positive. The First Bytes campers particularly enjoyed being exposed to things that they had never experienced before, such as the RFID tags that were used in the Pervasive Computing Lab to keep track of and play CDs. The main goal of their visit was to give them an up-close look at the fascinating kind of work they might eventually do as a result of pursuing technology-oriented educational and career tracks. From the enthusiastic comments of the campers at the end of their tour, it was clear that purpose had been fulfilled.