Seelam Seetharami 

For the past 6 months, I was an intern at IBM T J Watson Research Center.
It was a dream come true for me -- working at IBM Research with many great
people was really a great experience -- a dream that came true because of
my advisor Dr. Patricia Teller and her excellent guidance. What is great
about IBM Research is that IBM researchers collaborate with scientists
around the world. I co-authored two publications with my colleagues Dr.
Luiz DeRose, from IBM Research, and Dr. Bernd Mohr from outside 
of IBM. My research work was demo'd at the prestigious Super Computing (SC 2003)
conference held in Phoenix, AZ. My internship has provided me with
practical experience and enabled me to build a network of professional
contacts. My hard work is well recognized; IBM recently contacted me to
see if I am interested in working for them again.

Currently I am working on my dissertation with Dr. Patricia Teller on
performance modeling of parallel computation. My goal is to develop a
bridging model of parallel computation that address the shortcomings
of existing parallel computation models. I am planning to finish my
doctoral degree by the end of 2005. I am not sure where I will go from
there, most probably I will not consider an academia position and instead
will consider positions in research labs such as IBM Research.

My advice to anyone who is thinking about leaving UTEP to get their
graduate degree at another institution is "if you find the right faculty
in the area you are interested in, then it does not matter if the school
is big or small". I am fully confident that the training provided by UTEP
is on par with the kind of education one receives at a big school, and
will permit me to compete for jobs at any organization.

Back to Student Pages Home