Students Visit IBM for Highly Anticipated Tour
About 30 University of Scranton students recently traveled to Poughkeepsie, New York, for a tour of an IBM Innovation Studio. Four months of planning preceded the daylong trip, sponsored by the University's student chapters for the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).College is all about impactful and transformative experiences.
Sometimes, as was the case with a recent adventure to Poughkeepsie, New York, the turning points and pushes that happen behind the scenes provide an experience nearly as compelling as the end destination.
Months of student-led planning and preparation culminated on April 29 with about 30 University of Scranton students receiving an extensive tour of Poughkeepsie’s IBM Innovation Studio.
“It began with an introduction to what the facility does and the role IBM’s mainframes play in everyday life — from processing payments for airline tickets to delivering up-to-date financial and banking information,” said Bernard Scott, a computer science major from West Chester. “We were then greeted by one of the cybersecurity professionals who talked about how IBM incorporates security into every level of their mainframe systems. Following the presentation, we met nine professionals who were all beginning their careers at IBM. The professionals took several questions from students and gave us a lot of valuable information and lessons about starting at IBM or any other company.”
And that’s just scratching the surface.
Scott and his classmates — from both the University’s student chapters for the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) — also toured the live system testing floor and received an up-close view of IBM’s prototype mainframes, the mainframes currently running for clients and the cutting-edge IBM-Z mainframes.
“We appreciated the sheer scale of the operations that were happening under one roof,” Scott said.
The seeds for this trip were planted back in October, when the Computer Science Department hosted a talk with PJ Catalano, a mainframe influencer who works at IBM’s Poughkeepsie facility. Catalano’s visit was arranged with help from Chris Filachek ’96, an IBM employee and member of the Computer Science Department’s Advisory Board.
“Before the presentation, the department has a tradition of holding an informal meet-and-greet with the presenter, inviting students and faculty to engage with them while enjoying some pizza,” Scott recalled. “In my conversation with PJ, he extended to The University of Scranton ACM an invitation to tour the facility.”
Scott and his classmates took that invitation and set into motion plans to make it happen.
Obstacles included planning a date, forming an itinerary and negotiating affordable transportation.
However, the two student clubs were undeterred and determined to execute what ended up being a highlight of their time at the University.
In addition to the aforementioned nine young professionals at IBM, Catalano and a handful of other veteran coworkers also greeted the University students and their two faculty mentors, Mark Fenner, Ph.D., computing sciences professor, and Andrew Berger, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Physics and Engineering Department, who made the trip with them.
“It was exciting to see the implementation of topics from our operating systems and computer architecture classes into professionally maintained mainframes,” Scott said. “I hope the students and faculty learned valuable lessons and are inspired to use the knowledge from class to accomplish greatness and move the world forward.”
Experiential learning trips such as this are supported by gifts made as part of the University’s Day of Giving.
