Creeks, a Cessna Cardinal, a Time Capsule and Cake: Almaden Celebrates 100

On the last day of IBM's 99th year, hundreds of thousands IBMers around the world volunteered their time and talent in support of smarter planet initiatives. Recognizing the importance of water as a resource in the city of San Jose, researchers at Almaden have been working over the past year on a number of different water-related projects: improved membrane filtration techniques for safer drinking water, solar powered water desalination and most recently, an iPhone app called Creek Watch that allows every day passers-by to report crucial information about local creeks and streams to water authorities. Fueled by the notion of crowdsourcing, anyone with a smart phone can now be a "citizen scientist" and help improve local waterways without having a background in biology.

With water in mind, almost 50 IBMers from the research lab at Almaden set out to their designated zones on June 15th, equipped with their Creek Watch smart phone applications in hand as well as water monitoring kits provided by the city. The kits allowed volunteers to monitor temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity, while Creek Watch allows users to report the flow rate, water level and trash presence into a central database. Collecting data at over 31 streams in San Jose, IBMers were able to provide the city's staff with valuable information to protect natural resources, and become stewards of their watersheds.

A news clip from CBS explains why it's important that IBM dedicates its volunteer efforts to this important resource in San Jose:


Having such a dedicated focus on water, the Almaden lab extended its services by offering the city social media analysis for community outreach messages, business models to understand the effect that our natural waterways have on other systems in the city, and data warehousing solutions to efficiently store and aggregate the data collected. Volunteer Renu Tewari said, "We really wanted to make an impact. Instead of going out individually to complete our service hours, we focused all of our efforts on water, and we hope that we make a difference." (Morgan Hill Times)

Photos collected from volunteers can be viewed in an online album here.

The following day - June 16th - in recognition of IBM's official 100th birthday, IBM Research - Almaden gathered for a commemorative lab photo, taken from a small Cessna plane thousands of feet above - looking down to see "IBM 100th" spelled out by over 500 IBMers donning their IBM globe logo t-shirts and celebratory "Silver Centennial" medallions. Here's another one of the crew waving.


Over 60 IBMers continued the fun by being present for the official groundbreaking ceremony for Almaden's 25 year time capsule, set to be buried near the lobby's flagpole, and not opened until 2036. Several employees contributed artifacts and items to the time capsule including: Blue Gene/L compute card, Gaussian 92 tape and manual, IBM 3420 magnetic tape drive, STM gold writing, Li-Air battery test cell, Tivoli Storage Manager timeline, cognitive computing chips, Almaden Views brochures and magazines, press clippings, lab photos and more. IBM Research - Almaden vice president and lab director Josephine Cheng took the first 'dig' and passed the shovel along to a few other researchers.







The lab was treated to a musical performance by Alex De Luca and Kevin Roche, performing an original piece to the tune of "In the year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" by Zager and Evans - in their rendition cleverly named "In the year Almaden 25," the duo took us through 25 years of innovation at Almaden, complete with lasers, glow in the dark costumes, fog machines, live guitar and vocals.



Four volunteer contestants were then invited down to the stage to participate in an IBM Centennial Trivia Game Show. After 4 rounds of questions and a final question, in which they waged their decided number of points to capture the big win, George Rhoten came out on top. The fun continued outside of the auditorium, where all IBMers, still clad in their black IBM logo shirts, gathered for cake and spirits for the rest of the afternoon.

Now begins IBM Century 2.0! Thanks to all who participated and contributed to these events.

Check out Alex and Kevin performing "In the year Almaden 25" on YouTube:



Here's a fun video dedicated to IBM's 100 years and Almaden's 25:



Photo captions (top to bottom):

• IBM Research - Almaden manager Sandeep Gopisetty uses his Creek Watch iPhone app to snap a picture of Los Alamitos Creek
• Over 500 IBMers from Almaden spelled out "IBM 100th" for an aerial photo
• IBM Research - Almaden vice president and lab director Josephine Cheng kicks off the time capsule burial ceremony
• IBMers taking part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the "Almaden 25 year time capsule" to be opened in 2036
• Alex de Luca and Kevin Roche providing live musical entertainment to commemorate Almaden's 25th anniversary
• Four IBMers playing the IBM Centennial Trivia Game Show
  

Additional photos featuring the June 16th activities at IBM Research - Almaden can be found online here.

Palo Alto High School students learn 'you can do anything' at IBM Research - Almaden

Karen Camacho, a junior at Palo Alto's Gunn High School, may not have known that during her trip to IBM Research - Almaden she would learn how the next generation of batteries is going to be made, discover the secrets behind Watson, and take a trip into Second Life with a Portuguese-speaking researcher. But she, along with 26 of her classmates, were lucky enough to do just that during a visit supported by Gunn's College Pathways Program.

Monica Espinoza, Guidance Counselor and Program Coordinator at Gunn High School was instrumental in developing the College Pathways Program stemming from the district's goal to implement a district-school-community partnership designed to help increase the number of underrepresented students who are college-ready upon high school graduation. The program, which focuses on the students as well as the parents, affords students the chance to understand opportunities and responsibilities inherent in a college education, learn the pathways to college, and prepare for the college admissions process.

One of Monica's students in the program, Abel Abraha, wanted to see what it was like at companies also. Seeing colleges was interesting, but it still represented to the students the next phase of education; what would happen next? What would they do with their college degrees? What is the real working world like?

So Monica, with invaluable strategic and operational support from outstanding community volunteers from Gunn High School and Palo Alto, implemented the Silicon Valley Company Field Trip into the College Pathways Program to encourage students to develop a vision of themselves beyond the immediate future. In participating in these field trips, the students would experience first-class professional environments and gain awareness of education and professional paths leading to diverse careers in various industries. During the Silicon Valley Company Field Trip's inaugural year, the students visited a Bay Area biotechnology company and IBM Research - Almaden.

"Making a difference that matters in students' lives is a community responsibility," said Michelle Sung, IBM business operations manager and main organizer for the Gunn High School visit. "We hope that we're able to open these students' minds and help expand their visions beyond the classrooms, by showcasing a word-class research lab, and cool technologies with societal impact. If we can make a positive impact on one student's life, we can say that we've succeeded."

During the visit to Almaden, the students visited with and heard from a dedicated group of IBMers from all different backgrounds - from researchers and public relations professionals to scientists, chemists and lawyers - all of whom effectively conveyed to the students that there is something for everyone in technical companies such as IBM. Several of them advised the students to try different things and find what clicks, reminding them that though they might not know what the future holds yet, "just be the best you can - now, and in college - keep your grades up, be passionate, and you'll figure it out."

One presentation showed the students how the Deep QA System Watson works and how a machine was designed to beat the world's best Jeopardy! champions. When the students had a chance to play a mock game of Jeopardy! against Watson, they got a kick out of the category "Who's Your Daddy?" - but more importantly, learned that technologies such as this will have a huge impact on their lives in the future.

Throughout the additional presentations and lab tours, the students had a chance to see all types of people of different backgrounds and ages, which enabled the students to establish connections, and help them to realize they could be in these positions someday. Following a roundtable discussion at lunch with various IBMers, the students walked away motivated by what they heard. "We could connect very well with the speakers. It really inspired me to know that you could come out from any background and actually achieve something great," Karen said. "I really liked the advice that the speakers gave."

Lizbeth Aldaco echoed Karen's sentiments. "I liked that we could connect, and that they had struggles in their life and they still made it through," Lizbeth said. "Everybody has struggles, but they still made it here and they're making a difference."

"I think this opened my eyes up to different opportunities. It opened up more doors. I want to do something different now," said Wil Loveless. His classmate Soulemayne Sarr enjoyed hearing about each of the panelists' backgrounds and education. "They weren't just talking about jobs," he said. "It might sound corny, but they said 'you can do anything.' And that's what really stuck with me."

IBM Emeritus Jean Paul Jacob, a volunteer for the event with a great track record of participating in student events said, "Diversity, like interdisciplinarity, feeds innovation. What we saw with this group of high schoolers was a process which is working well and I felt that all of us at Almaden were catalystic agents, accelerating, motivating and facilitating the development of these students." He continued, "That is why I welcomed the invitation to keynote and, at the same time, from the students questions and remarks, learn that next generations have lots to offer, faster than previous ones."

Volunteer Alvaro Padilla also emphasized the importance of motivation as a factor in impacting these students' lives. "I think that motivation is a challenge for any student, but especially for those who lack the support or resources that are deemed as necessary to pursue - and eventually attain - a college degree," he said.

"I agreed to participate in this event because I think that it is important to inform all students, including those who have been historically under-represented in our undergraduate institutions, about the importance of an education, and how it leads to an enriched life - I know this from personal experience."

By engaging the students in these learning experiences, Gunn High School's leadership - and Monica - hope to inspire and prepare students, reminding them that high school is the beginning of an exciting journey; there are endless possibilities; and there are opportunities to impact the world in transformative ways. It turned out that visiting IBM Research - Almaden helped the students see a true representation of that.

"I hope that the messages they heard from each of the speakers resonated loud and clear -- college opens doors, education is invaluable, stay in school, study hard, then you can be anything you want to be," Michelle said.

More photos can be viewed here.

Almaden researcher named United Way Star of the Day

IBM Research Distinguished Engineer and Senior Manager, Advanced Storage Subsystems, KK Rao was recently named "United Way Star of the Day" for his volunteer work with the Earn it! Keep it! Save it! program. The Star of the Day program recognizes the Silicon Valley's most dedicated volunteers.



North San Jose IBM Site Executive and Director, STG Services, Ed Ng, also earned the honor in April. Ed serves on United Way's Board as its Secretary and is an active member of its Campaign Cabinet.

Last year, the Earn it! Keep it! Save it! program also afforded IBM the United Way Corporate Volunteer Award for its efforts to promote a culture of volunteerism to its employees.

IBM is a major supporter of United Way Silicon Valley's "Earn it! Keep it! Save it!" program, which connects workers with low-incomes to free tax preparation services. The program helps these workers secure tax credits that significantly boost their incomes. This year, IBM made a $113,000 in-kind donation of PCs and laptops to support the more than 25 tax preparation locations.

Many IBM employees spend nearly three months volunteering for the program, helping local people with their tax returns. Preliminary results from the IRS show that $5.7 million was refunded to local families and individuals, thanks to services provided at these free tax preparation sites.

IBM's corporate responsibility strategy combines busniess and societal value for IBM and its key stakeholders: clients, shareholders, employees, and communities. The company has been a longtime supporter of United Way Silicon Valley.