In the fall semester of 2012, IBM is running its eighth annual Master the Mainframe Contest for college and university students across the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec). High school students are also encouraged to compete!
No experience with mainframes is necessary. In fact, the contest is designed for students
with little or no mainframe experience, increasing with difficulty as the
contest progresses. Students just need to bring drive and competitive spirit.
Why compete in a Mainframe Contest?
Prizes!
The prizes up for grabs in the 2012 Master The Mainframe Contest include:
- ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity tablet computers
- Master the Mainframe swag, including hoodies, messenger bags and more
- Trips to the mainframe lab in Poughkeepsie, NY
- Custom Master the Mainframe T-shirts
Experience!
Today's mainframes are growing in popularity and require a new generation
of mainframe experts. This contest is designed to equip students with basic
skills to make them more competitive for jobs in the enterprise computing
industry. Participation in the Master the Mainframe Contest could give
you the edge you need.
To help employers connect with the best mainframe students, contestants
are encouraged to check out the jobs posted on the new System z job board
at Systemzjobs.com.
Fame!
You can see information on last year's winners at the 2011 Master the Mainframe
Wall of Fame. You can also read some nice press on previous winners in these articles:
When is the contest?
Registration begins: 04 September 2012
Contest runs: 01 October - 28 December 2012
Who can compete?
To compete, students must have an educator at their institution enrolled in the IBM Academic Initiative. Students, ask your educator to follow the instructions on the Educators tab; enrollment takes only about 10 minutes. By enrolling, your educator will gain access to IBM products and resources at no charge.
What is a mainframe, anyway?
On 28 August 2012, IBM introduced its most powerful, scalable and energy-efficient
mainframe server ever, the IBM zEnterprise EC12, the result of over one billion dollars of research and development. This
machine sports the world's fastest microprocessor, running at 5.5Ghz. It
is also the only commercial server to achieve Common Criteria Evaluation
Assurance Level 5+ security classification. Cool? Cool.
To find out a little bit more about what makes a mainframe system unique,
check out these resources:
- Mainframes and Clouds (Irving Wladawsky-Berger's blog)
- I.B.M. Mainframe Evolves to Serve the Digital World (New York Times)
- IBM's zEnterprise architecture makes mainframe cool again, also efficient (Engadget)
- The value of the mainframe today (z/OS Basic Skills Information Center)
- Mainframes in our midst: You use one every day (z/OS Basic Skills Information Center)
