From left: Stephen Workman, Cathryn Peoples, Steven Boal, Ronan Farren (Cisco Systems, San Jose), Prof Gerard Parr (UU), Ernest Sithole and Parag Kulkarni.

Five University of Ulster students have been selected to fill coveted internship positions with Cisco Systems in Silicon Valley.

The UU students that were selected after interviews in Ireland and via IP conference calls to San Jose are Ernest Sithole, Cathryn Peoples, Stephen Workman, Parag Kulkarni and Steven Boal. The students will study at Cisco’s research laboratories in San Jose, California, and will work on their independent research projects and also participate in the International Conference on Networking and Services (ICNS 2006) due to be held in Santa Clara, California where they will present their research findings jointly with Cisco Systems.

As interns, they will be offered assistance with their J -1 visas, flight and set-up costs and will be paid a competitive salary by Cisco Systems, but according to Professor Gerard Parr, Professor of Telecommunications Engineering at UU, the real benefits of the summer internship are the career pathways it opens up for the students.

“This is a truly amazing opportunity for our students to interact with and learn from the world leader in current and next generation networking since 60-70% of the Internet is run and managed over Cisco equipment. Cisco employs over 34,000 people worldwide and having pioneering the use of the Internet, the Cisco name has become synonymous with the Internet, as well as with the productivity improvements that Internet business solutions provide.

“Our students will be working on internationally leading research projects relating to MIB Engineering, IPTV, Autonomic GRID Networking, SNMP Performance Monitoring and Next Generation Network Resource Management over the fixed-wireless interface.”

“What will be of great interest for the interns is that they will be working at the cutting edge of new technologies in voice, wireless and network management as Cisco Systems moves from its traditional enterprise base to create new markets in these technologies in both service provider and consumer markets”, said Ronan.

Ronan Farren from the Strategic Marketing Organisation in Cisco Systems recently visited the Coleraine campus to wish the Cisco Interns ‘Bon Voyage’ and offer orientation and localisation tips.

He said: “This initiative is being supported by the highest levels within Cisco Systems HQ in San Jose, and we’re delighted with the response we have received from some key universities, in particular the University of Ulster at Coleraine.This has enabled us to source the most talented graduates that will ably represent themselves, the University of Ulster and ultimately the research and telecommunications engineering talent on the island of Ireland.The interns will work in Cisco engineering teams developing the next generation of networking, telecommunications solutions for enterprises, governments, service providers and consumers around the globe.”

Professor Parr continued: “This is an opportunity of a lifetime for our Computer Science and Engineering students and a significant milestone for the University of Ulster.“

The intern programme is a joint initiative between the Internet Technologies Research Group at UU and Cisco Systems Inc., in San Jose, California. Senior Technical Leaders within Cisco Systems and Professor Parr will supervise the UU interns jointly.

For further information, please contact:

David Young
Telephone: 028 90366074
Email: David Young