My name is Livia Song, and I’m a Graphic Design senior. I found my internship with IBM Research through a posting on s job listing website.
I learned an incredible amount
when I interned at IBM Research, a place at the forefront of STEM research, this summer. I felt like I was working in a
university facility with its own set of faculty who were not only focused on
creating enterprise software, but on learning more about: chemistry and
material sciences, algorithms, hardware, software architecture, quantum
computing, artificial intelligence and cognitive services.
My supervisor’s
name was Justin Weisz, the Director of the Mobile Solutions and Infrastructure
branch whose specialty is in CS and HCI. Although he was my overseer, he did not give
me major design advice as he conceded that it was not his area of expertise. My design mentor was Kate Vogt whose advice and directions I followed despite her not being my supervisor.
I worked as the sole Visual Designer for the mobile solutions team along with a user experience designer to create and maintain a visual identity for Zion, our iOS native healthcare application project. Zion is meant to serve as an aid for medical professionals so that they
can create and follow up on care plans for patients, as well as monitor
for any worrying changes in health. I worked with all sorts of developers and designers
- half of the Zion team was even located across the Atlantic, in Ireland!
I am most proud
of managing the workload of an “adult” job though I regret not having broken out of
my shell more. I’m also proud of having landed the internship in the
first place because it opened my mind to a world I had not known of before. The
knowledge I gained of mobile application workflow from conception to
implementation will likely prove to be invaluable as well.
I am definitely looking forward to working in or with
the tech industry in the future.
