The third Lab Week of 2010 took place from July 26 to July 30. Projects ranged from games to social media integration endeavors to raw API request optimizations. There were seventeen total projects, and more than forty-five participants.

What is Lab Week?

Lab Week brings together creativity, cooperation, and code.

For one week each quarter, the engineering teams at CIM halt production of pre-defined applications and participate in the creation of unique products of their own design.

Creativity – As Lab Week approaches, brainstorming begins within the CIM community. The congregations around the water coolers seem to grow. White boards begin to fill with cryptic reminders and haphazard diagrams. The air grows thick with hushed explanations. Finally, a meeting is called, wherein individuals pitch their ideas, which are subsequently displayed in the communal lounge. Any passing engineer, if intrigued by a particular project, may sign up. Teams are born, and, once Lab Week begins, the projects begin to come to life.

Cooperation – During Lab Week, participants are encouraged to work in teams that consist of members of several different CIM groups (meaning cross-platform, Fancast.com, Xfinity.com, and Comcast.net). This affords each individual the chance to forge relationships with coworkers with whom he or she may not regularly interact.

Code – Lab Week strengthens not only the culture of CIM, but also the foundational skill sets of its engineers. Many ambitious projects have forced the participants to learn entirely new technologies in order to deliver their end result. Additionally, past Lab Weeks have given birth to innovative products, which have been implemented either commercially or internally.

At the end of the week, CIM hosts a “science fair,” where the Lab Week participants showcase demonstrations of their end products. In the true spirit of the elementary school science fair, each showcase is often complete with explanatory poster boards, interactive demos, drinks and snacks.

Lab Week is an important aspect of CIM culture, and a unique opportunity to have a great time while creating innovative products which serve CIM’s central goal: to create experiences that make lives easier and the world more entertaining—all through technology.