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Hi Everyone!!
I’m thrilled to share my journey as a summer intern at IBM Research Lab situated in Manyata Tech Park, Bengaluru. I joined this internship as an MS student at IIT Delhi. I have experienced academic research before but I found working in the industry on business-related research problems more satisfying. IBM builds the future of technology with its products and innovations and I was glad to be a part of the IBM family and add my contribution to driving the future of AI and Foundational Models.
I arrived in Bangalore on 7th May and was provided with a beautiful stay for the first 7 days. The accommodation was just a five min walk from the office. Right after the orientation on day one, the exciting moment arrived when I was allocated my very own MacBook Pro – I was thrilled and excited to start my work. I got an amazing seat with a beautiful view for the next 3 months. Every day from then I enjoyed the sky and a cup of coffee here.
The next day I started working on my problem statement, as it was a research internship, I got a list of papers to read and understand the literature. The internship experience was packed with all those activities that I got to do as an MS Research student. I was asked to prepare a video presentation of my research topic and write a blog describing the same. IBM also conducted a hackathon for the interns, and employees were assigned to us as mentors. I proposed a unique idea and won the first prize along with my teammates Shubhangi and Ananya.
It was a delight to celebrate my birthday during my internship with my new friends and colleagues. We had fun events like intern-o-duction where interns introduced each other in pairs. We also went on trips during our internship to Wonderla and Area 83 Resort. The experience was amazing. I enjoyed every bit of the trip. This internship was not just about work; it was about forging connections and creating lasting memories. We sang songs and played Antakshri, and Dumb Charades on our way. We also went clubbing one day at Nagvara Social to enjoy the good food and songs.
The internship experience was packed with fun social events like sports tournaments and mentor-mentee lunches. We went to Courtyard by Marriott for lunch and enjoyed our interactions with all the mentors. The last thing was the poster presentation. I presented my intern’s work as a scientific poster to all the IRL employees and seek their feedback. It was exactly like the poster presentation at SIGIR. I got amazing suggestions and advice to improve my work. It was the last day for many of the interns and we wore our IBM T-shirts for this photoshoot.
Overall I would say, it was an amazing learning experience for me. I made amazing connections and new friends here. Bangalore weather is always a plus. I got to learn all the aspects of industrial research from distinguished mentors. Reading papers, writing blogs, and making video and poster presentations, I experienced it all in this short 3 month’s time.
Shivangi Bithel 