IBM’s Zurich Research Laboratory announces winners of “Great Minds” student internship initiative

Zurich, Switzerland, and Moscow, Russia, 10 Dec 2007—The Zurich Research Laboratory—the European branch of IBM Research—has selected six students from Ukraine, Russia, Hungary and the Czech Republic for its first “Great Minds” internship program 2008. The new initiative was launched last summer to offer students from across Central and Eastern Europe the chance to win an internship at the renowned research laboratory.

The six winning students will spend three to six months at the Zurich Research Lab working alongside world-class scientists on projects ranging from systems management, IT security, sensor networking, network profiling, business process modeling to supercomputing.  

“We were glad to see such a high degree of ambition and enthusiasm among the candidates regarding the kind of work pursued in an industrial research lab and for research projects that address real business issues,” states Dr. Liba Svobodova, University Relations representative at the Zurich Research Lab.

Professor Mykhaylo Soloshchuk, Head of Computer Science and IP at the National Technical University (NTU), Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute in Ukraine, from which two of the winners come, emphasizes that, “For the young but thriving Eastern European economies, technology transfer is one of the most crucial elements in achieving sustained growth.  The internship initiative at IBM Research, where technology transfer constitutes an integral part, presents an excellent opportunity for our students.”

“We maintain historically strong ties to the local industry—this initiative allows our students to think in global terms,” says Professor András Pataricza, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and visiting professor at IBM Budapest Center for Advanced Studies.

The winners of the 2007 “Great Minds” initiative are:

• Tetiana Levandovska
  National Technical University (NTU), Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, Ukraine
• Alexander Maystrenko
  National Technical University (NTU), Kiev Polytechnic Institute, Ukraine
• Artem Nikulchenko
  National Technical University (NTU), Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, Ukraine
• Georgiy N. Shumkin
  Moscow State University, Russia
• István Szombath
  Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
• Tomáš Tůma
  Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic