It amazes me that it’s been three weeks since I first began working as a Shad intern at IBM’s Toronto Lab. I remember my first day of work like it was yesterday- I was amazed by the beautiful facilities and being advised that that I didn’t need to look so formal and could take off my tie. At IBM I work with five other Shad alumni (mostly from previous years) on projects which will hopefully help high school students to become more involved in computer science.

This morning I worked on developing a Facebook application to help promote our main website, Programming Contest Central (PCC). One of the great things about my department is that we are able to choose or create the projects we work on, based on our individual interests. At around 11:30 we all wrapped up what we were working on and headed to the cafeteria for some lunch. During our break we had the opportunity to look at some projects that Future Blue (another co-op/student internship program at IBM) has been working on. After hearing some presentations we decided to play a little ping pong, and soon it was back to the office to continue working. I decided to take a break from programming and work on another project. For the past 2 weeks my fellow Shads and I have been brainstorming ideas for a conference, to bring together bright undergraduate students who share a common interest in computer science. This afternoon I worked on adding to and editing the report which will be used to present all of our ideas to our supervisor. In the process of writing this blog I have realized that the time I've spent here at IBM has been an amazing experience, one that I will never forget.

Michael Lin
Hometown: North York, ON