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IUPUI CYBERLAB TO MOVE TO TECHNOLOGY FIRM VIFI; LAB WILL OFFER STUDENT INTERNS REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE

INDIANAPOLIS - Thanks to a new partnership between the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI and VIFI, a locally-based company that provides Internet-based solutions for financial institutions, IUPUI students will get experience at one of the nation's top technology firms before they even graduate from college.

Through an agreement between the two, IUPUI students will be able to complete internships at the CyberLab, the school's information technology research and development facility, which this summer will move to VIFI's Indianapolis headquarters. Students will work on real projects for both IUPUI and VIFI.

"Our students' learning will be richly enhanced as they work in teams on real world information technology problems and issues," said Purdue School of Engineering and Technology Dean H. Oner Yurtseven. "This arrangement is a great example of the School's strong connection to local business and industry."

"We believe this partnership creates a unique opportunity for students to experience technology development projects in a setting that is very close to the working world," said VIFI President Mike Winter. "It will better equip these students with the skills necessary to build technology-based businesses while also making them aware of some of the opportunities here in Central Indiana to pursue their careers."

The CyberLab, previously called WebLab, opened at IUPUI in 1996 and until now, served as a research and development laboratory for the campus, employing personnel and headed by computer technology Professor Ali Jafari. Now, instead of hiring, Jafari will enlist the help of student interns. In the past, the CyberLab has developed products such as Oncourse, perhaps the first-ever enterprise course management system (currently used by all eight IU campuses); and Angel, an upgrade of Oncourse, which spawned its own company. The CyberLab's next projects are an electronic portfolio for students and an educational portal.

"To say you worked on one of these projects is better than a 3.9 GPA in this field," said Jafari.

Intern selection will be a highly competitive and selective process, according to Jafari. Students will be not only computer majors who will write programs and design systems, but will come from a variety of backgrounds. For example, business students could serve as project and marketing managers, new media students could serve as graphic designers, and English students could write technical manuals. He also hopes to involve top-notch local high school students by offering them college credit and possibly scholarships. All of the students will collaborate in a team to design and develop enterprise systems.

VIFI will donate the office space for the IUPUI CyberLab along with workstations and other facility supports for the lab in exchange for students working part of the time on company projects.

"VIFI and IUPUI are two organizations who are committed to building strong ties between the business community and the universities," said Winter. "Business relies heavily on the university to create and develop the workforce of the future. The university needs help from business to create the environment in which to develop this workforce. The VIFI-IUPUI CyberLab partnership is an impressive first step toward uniting these entities in a worthwhile, and real, endeavor. We have all been talking about how to build these ties; CyberLab begins to make it a reality."

Microsoft is also supporting the project by offering free software, as well as food and drink, a benefit the company offers its own employees.

VIFI also offers its employees some unusual perks. "We want an environment that encourages people to get away from the grind. Work doesn't have to be work; work can be fun," said Winter. The company offers a break room with a patio, cappuccino machine, pool table and foosball table, along with woods and walking paths behind the building.

Eventually, Jafari hopes to recruit other faculty members and work online with faculty and students from other major research universities.

The internship is two semesters, earning students a total of six hours class credit towards an IU or Purdue degree.

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