Extreme Blue is IBM's premier internship program for both graduate and undergraduate students; it also serves as an excellent placement opportunity for future IBM employment due to the significant effort put into placement of the interns. Started in 1999 with one location at the Lotus site in Cambridge, MA, it has since expanded to include 14 international locations. In 2007, approximately 4500 applications were received for less than 100 US positions.

Since its inception in 1999 the program has expanded world-wide with summer programs running in Haifa, Amsterdam, Brussels, Hursley, Dublin, Böblingen and La Gaude. Furthermore, the program is running in Beijing, Manila, and Bangalore. Over 10,000 students applied for 220 positions world-wide in 1997. Extreme Blue is a company initiative that uses experienced IBM engineers, talented interns, and business managers to develop high-value technology.

The project is designed to analyze emerging business needs and the technologies that can solve them. These projects mostly involve rapid-prototyping of high-profile software and hardware projects. Entry into Extreme Blue is competitive for both interns and IBM employees.

In the 2007/8 NCWE Awards, the UK Extreme Blue program received the "Over 250 Employees - Short term placement Award.

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