June 2015


Issue Home >>

The relationship began back in 2008 when Jevon Beckles was chosen as the intern to join the IBM TJ Watson Research Headquarters in Yorktown Heights, New York. The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DECE) at UWI St. Augustine had been approached not long before by IBM Master Inventor, Dr. Nicholas Fuller, Research Staff Member and Manager at the research facility. IBM Research wanted to offer an annual 10-12 week internship to level-two students, hoping to expose undergraduates to their sophisticated industrial research in the hope that it would persuade them to continue along the engineering research trajectory.

At the time, Dr. Kim Mallalieu was the Head of the DECE, seen as the top performing STEM Department at The UWI. The DECE was also well known for the rigour of the undergraduate degree that prepared students well as regional industry leaders and had attained accreditation from the IET. So when Dr. Fuller selected Jevon Beckles, it was no surprise that he performed exceptionally well in the IBM environment. It paved the way for all the others who have since followed. The internship was offered again for another year, and has been available since.

Dr. Akash Pooransingh, a Lecturer in Computer Systems at the DECE, has been the main coordinator between IBM Research and The UWI. In January 2015, a Joint Study Agreement was signed between the IBM Corporation and The UWI for one year, naming Dr Pooransingh and Ying Li of IBM as its Technical Coordinators.

One of the terms of the JSA is that, “IBM grants to the University an irrevocable, non-exclusive, worldwide and fully paid-up license to use, execute, reproduce and distribute internally, the IBM Software, and any other copyrightable materials furnished or developed by IBM under this agreement.”

The immediate effect has been to allow the 2014 intern, Hannah Abdool, “access to cutting edge research components developed and patented at IBM Research to be incorporated as an element of her own research project at UWI,” says Dr. Pooransingh. “This is significant as it was never done previously and UWI benefits from having IBM Research as a research collaborator. Before this, the interns were not able to share or even continue to work on the research done at IBM with UWI.”

His enthusiasm is shared by Dr Mallalieu.

“The Department treasures the relationship it has built with IBM Research over the past seven years,” she said. “At the host in Yorktown Heights, our interns have made The UWI, their country and the region proud through exemplary conduct and contributions. At home, their shared experience has heightened the interest of other students in intellectual leadership and careers in research. Staff linkages have also triggered thriving lines of research.”

HERE IS WHAT THE UWI IBM INTERNS HAD TO SAY

Jevon Beckles IBM Project 2008: Design of a pin array controller for sensory perception and virtual reality

My greatest fear of doing a PhD, especially in the context of a small-island state, was that I would be bound to university teaching for the rest of my life. The internship experience threw those thoughts out quite quickly. It showed me that research could be exciting, but more so, relevant to everyday life.

Yohan Seepersad IBM PROJECT 2009: Reducing parasitic series resistance in silicon solar cells

The IBM experience is priceless. Words will barely describe the manner in which those few months can drastically change one’s perspectives. Research is the heart and soul of everything technology is built on. We have smarter phones, faster computers, smaller robots, better medicine, where does it all come from? Who does it? Who can do it? For me the answer to the last question was most significant: I can do it.

Barrington Brown IBM PROJECT 2010: Voltage stress dielectric characterization for CMOS interconnects

My ideal career after my next phase of education would be something that allows me the exposure in either Research and Development or Design. Eventually I hope to become an entrepreneur. IBM allowed me to get a taste of research and it has given me a hunger for something outside the typical role of an engineer in the Caribbean.

Brad Ali IBM PROJECT 2012: Financial control and organizational governance in Cloud

Prior to IBM, I had my eye set on working in the oil and gas industry or in the generation/distribution side of the energy sector, but throughout the internship programme, I came to realize there were many more applications for my experience even within the energy sector. Learning about IBM’s Smarter Energy and Smart Grid projects while working there, inspired to explore those avenues within the energy sector.

Hannah Abdool IBM PROJECT 2014: Design and Implementation of App to Aesthetically Critique Dishes on Google Glass

I had considered changing my degree, at times even quitting my studies altogether. I was not happy with my projected path. I love the Arts, and to me, my STEM degree suffocated that part of me. It is no understatement that my experience at IBM changed the way I perceived my education and my life altogether. My internship project combined aspects of Engineering and Culinary Arts, and proved to me that there is Art underlying every Science.