Two days in the life of the Intel 0x7DD summer school

At the end of April , a set of Intel 2013 Summer School was announced on the Intel blog. And the call did not pass unheard; as a result, out of 24 students of the school, five came here after seeing a post on Habré. However, someone probably didn’t see the invitation on time or lost sight of it and now regrets it. So that you regret even more and next year you were aiming to take advantage of your chance, I would like to publish my small report about two days spent among the staff of current and past students at the school - what I saw and heard there.

I note right away: these two days were not ordinary in the life of the school, but contained a seminar to which, in addition to students, invited Intel project managers, mentors, graduates of past years, as well as invited guests.


School opening on July 3rd. Intel's traditional pizza and parting words from mentors

Intel Summer School has been around for 13 years - it is the same age as the Nizhny Novgorod branch of the company. During this time, more than 500 students from various universities and cities of the Russian Federation passed through her classes: St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Ufa and many other cities, including, of course, Nizhny Novgorod. Some of them were invited to this seminar. In the photo below, in the first row in the center, Dmitry Kryzhanovsky, a graduate of 2003, conducting his student school in robotics in the Volgograd State Technical University. Taking this opportunity, we invite you to sign up for it - classes will begin in October.
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The first day of the seminar. We listen to stories about Intel

The first day of the seminar was held at the Intel office. We were addressed by the managers of the main Intel divisions located in Nizhny Novgorod. Then came the turn of today's and yesterday's students: they told about their scientific and commercial projects. The speakers were fascinated and continually exceeded the time limit, but no one took offense at them.


Second day. The same, but already in nature - and the mood is completely different

On the second day we went free - in the summer camp of the NSTU "Zhdanovets", on the shore of the Gorky Sea. There the reports continued, but they were perceived in nature quite differently. After lunch, it was the turn of the sports program and everyone rushed to the shore, although the day was not hot.


The curator is the curator in everything. Intel Academic Programs Director Viktor Samofalov (in a red jacket) teaches riding on a sailing board

The rest turned out to be so fascinating that by the beginning of the last issue of the program - a round table devoted to building a career in modern conditions, in the meeting room there was not a good half of the students led by discussion moderators. However, the event did take place, after which, tired but happy, we left for home.


Each summer schoolboy knows them - Larisa Mikhailovna Fadina and Natalia Kopchenova

As a supplement to the report, I offer you two interviews with students of the summer school - present and past; how the school can affect the career of a specialist and the expectations associated with it.

Maxim Krivov, student of the summer school of 2009

Maxim, how did you find out about the summer school of Intel?
As a student at Moscow State University, I constantly monitored the Intel site and participated in their contests. For example, we twice reached the final of the Intel Game Demo Contest. There I saw an article about summer school. And then I filled out an application, well, they accepted me.

What, in your opinion, is the main thing that a summer school can give to a programmer?
The most important thing, in my opinion, is experience in a large company, when you manage to participate in the software development process in person. And the process of quality and debugged, this is Intel. Find out what code review is, how to properly conduct refactoring, learn the full power of C ++ templates. More importantly, the school lasts for almost two months, and it is possible not just to look at all this from the outside, but to do the specific task yourself under the supervision of a mentor.

How did the school influence your professional activities?
In the most direct way. I was engaged in parallel programming before her, but after participating in school I realized that this was not just one of theoretical directions, but a demanded work that few people can do normally and are ready to pay for. In addition, here I met a student from Krasnoyarsk (Sergey Grisan), with whom we worked together on one task. Immediately after school, we decided to develop our own library for heterogeneous systems, and then it started spinning and spinning. They founded their company ttgLabs, customers and money appeared, the library was brought to the product. Now we begin sales. In November, our company, by the way, will be three years old.

According to your information, does participation in a school help employers at Intel?
It all depends on personal motivation. If you set a goal to get to Intel, then the school is ideal. Not in the sense that after it is guaranteed to take on the job, but that there will be an opportunity from the inside to look at the company and choose an interesting project. Get acquainted with the leader, find out what exactly they are doing, what kind of team is there. Well, to prove yourself, of course, without this, nothing happens.

Irina Soboleva, student of the summer school 2013

Irina, what school do you study at? How did you find out about Intel school?
I study and work in the Northern Arctic Federal University, the city of Arkhangelsk. I tried to apply last year, but did not pass, and my friend got to school. This year I didn’t even plan to declare, but a friend told me so much how he liked at Intel and in Nizhny Novgorod - advertised, in general. As a result, applied for at the very last moment.

So, how do you see the stories?
I am probably a very impressionable person. All around say: "wow, how everything is great here." I also like it, but there is no “wow” yet. This refers more to the city itself - somehow I could not find here so much wonderful to really feel. Although it proceeded all the historical part on foot.

What can you say about the scientific work that you do here?
It feels the high professional level of those people with whom I communicate at Intel. I like the style of communication very much: you can ask any question and they will explain everything calmly and intelligibly. A good addition to learning is the opportunity to get a certificate in programming. I tried to get certified in our city, but here everything is done much more competently and sensibly.

What is the main outcome of the school for you?
I removed my self-confidence from here. I asked a lot and therefore I learned a lot of new things. It is difficult for a student who goes to work to rely on this level of mentoring, as we see here at Intel. At the University, where I work, I often have to understand everything myself, here I feel in a team. Some people compare their presence in school with writing a thesis, only the terms here are much more concise.

Have you thought about a career in Intel?
With my current amount of knowledge it will be hard. Now I see the level to which I need to strive, and if I succeed, it will be possible to think about a career in Intel.