IBM's System z Academic Initiative Program Reaches Global Milestones

Strategic Insights -

IBM's System z Academic Initiative Program, launched to expose students worldwide to career opportunities in enterprise systems computing, has achieved significant milestones. Over 550 schools worldwide have joined IBM to offer coursework in IBM System z enterprise servers. This includes Anna University in Chennai, India, which has become one of the world's first educational organizations to offer a Master in Technology program with a Mainframe Technology specialization. Additionally, IBM announced the winners of its "Destination z" Scholarship program, providing funding for students to build technical skills for IBM enterprise servers. The program has also facilitated connections between businesses using mainframes and professors teaching the technology, offering students opportunities with leading banks like Citigroup.

Key Takeaways:

  • Over 550 schools worldwide have joined IBM's System z Academic Initiative Program to offer coursework in IBM System z enterprise servers.
  • Anna University in Chennai, India, has become one of the world's first educational organizations to offer a Master in Technology program with a Mainframe Technology specialization.
  • More than 1,000 students from various countries have won prizes through the IBM student mainframe contests, with over 900 students advancing through progressively difficult computing questions and challenges in the United States and Canada.
  • The IBM "Destination z" Scholarship program provides funding for educational courses to increase student technical skills in mainframe computing, co-funded with IBM Business Partners.
  • IBM has connected businesses using mainframes with professors teaching the technology, offering students opportunities with leading banks like Citigroup.
  • The System z community links bring mainframe job resources closer to students, with a System z profile on Facebook and a worldwide Student Opportunity System for students to post their resumes for employer review.

Statistics:

  • Over 550 schools worldwide have joined IBM's System z Academic Initiative Program.
  • 1,000+ students from various countries have won prizes through the IBM student mainframe contests.
  • 900+ students advanced through progressively difficult computing questions and challenges in the United States and Canada.
  • Since its inception in 2005, the IBM student mainframe contests have attracted over 14,000 student entries for thousands of prizes.
  • The top five winners of the 2008 North America Master the Mainframe Contest included Bryan Weaver of Northern Illinois University, Yeming Hu of Dalhousie University, David Jones of West Texas A&M University, Bin Sun of Syracuse University, and Jinhu Huang of Seneca College.

Sources:

  • IBM
  • University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Peking University, and South China University of Technology
  • Citigroup
  • Anna University
  • System z profile on Facebook (keyword: systemz mainframe)
  • IBM Academic Initiative Program
  • IBM student mainframe contests
  • IBM Destination z Scholarship program
  • SmarTrend (Comtex SmarTrend Alert)