When it comes to Sharing ...it's
      Sun Labs and the Summer Intern Research Series (SIRS)

July 26, 2005 - The large and successful Sun Labs intern program is a significant part of life and research at Sun Labs. From its summer-only beginning, the Sun Labs intern program has become year-round and international, with interns coming from colleges and universities around the world. However, the summer crop of interns is still the largest and a significant part of their experience is the Summer Intern Research Series (SIRS), which provides Sun Labs interns the opportunity to engage with summer interns in other local research labs.

How it all began ...

. . . in the summer of 1994, when the interns at Xerox PARC and Sun Labs convinced their coordinators to foster an exchange so the interns could visit both Labs and experience presentations and discussions by senior researchers from each lab. Recently, the first Sun Labs SIRS coordinator recalled, "We set a high technical standard for presenters that year with Ivan Sutherland from Sun Labs and Mark D. Weiser from PARC." With this auspicious beginning, SIRS has become a yearly event and is remembered by past interns as "the highlight of the summer program."

Who are the participants ...

Under the guidelines established by the initial companies and intern coodinators, SIRS participants must be research centers or laboratories of established computer science or engineering companies in Silicon Valley. Prospective corporate members require approval by the existing company Coordinators. In the past, participating companies have included Hewlett Packard, Interval, Xerox PARC, Compaq, Digital Equipment Company (DEC) West, Fuji Xerox, and IBM Almaden - a list which also reflects the evolution of the high tech industry over the past decade.

The summer interns of these organizations are typically PhD students in computer science or engineering, although requirements vary from company to company and undergraduate interns may also be included.

The 2005 SIRS program ...

The 2005 SIRS participants and hosts include Google, Microsoft, PARC, and Sun Labs, with HP interns invited to all the events this year. The program description and registration is online so interns can register for the entire program by visiting a single website. The organization and planning effort is handled almost entirely through email by the Intern Coordinators of each company, although each hosted individual site visit requires additional coordination.

Each research lab hosts one afternoon event, usually in July, during which a number of technical talks are given, followed by questions and a catered reception. The key to the success of the program is the high quality of the presenters - typically senior researchers - and the technical content of the talks. No gifts are allowed, with the exception of documentation, white papers, technical reports, etc.

Benefits of SIRS ...

The SIRS program provides a formal means for interns of the participating companies to visit other research labs and to broaden their exposure to current research activities as well as to provide the visiting interns with a wider experience of technologies, corporate values, and work environments.

While SIRS is intended to directly benefit the students, indirect benefits include increased visibility for each company as good corporate citizens who share state-of-the-art information and technology with the eager interns. Sharing is a good thing! More Information: