Students celebrate IBM internship

A COHORT of Federation University’s Victorian Certificate Applied Learning students are celebrating their completion of a six-week internship through P-Tech at IBM.

The students were working in various information technology areas at the Mt Helen centre, including cloud computing, data analysis, website programming for the ATO, programming language, the Energy Australia internal help desk and Telstra spare parts logistics.

The P-Tech program, Pathways in Technology, is FedUni’s way of preparing VCAL students for the competitive workforce by partnering the science, technology, engineering and mathematics industries with educational opportunities.

Gabriel Gervasoni has learned a lot as an intern.

He’s proud of what he’s achieved at IBM in programming.

“I feel I’ve accomplished a lot. I feel like I’m welcome here,” he said.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do anything like this without P-Tech, Federation College and the support IBM’s given.”

Maeve Mensch interned with Energy Australia’s internal helpdesk, assisting employees with their computer issues. She was pleasantly surprised by her transition into the workspace.

“I thought it would be a really tough area to work in…but it’s really supportive,” she said.

IBM P-Tech industry liaison coordinator, Trevor Adams, provides work experience opportunities.

He said this round of internships was the first collaboration between P-Tech and IBM. All the students involved had already completed year 12.

“They’ve been with us since earlier in January.

It’s actually a scholarship that Federation University support,” Mr Adams said.

“We’ve got a much bigger cohort of Year 12s coming through this year, so there will be more students coming into this process next year as well.”