Julia Fleming attends the Nasdaq opening bell ceremony in New York City.
After completing co-ops as an electrical engineering trainee for the Naval
Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division and a software quality analyst
for Apex Silver, Julia Fleming, B.S. electrical and computer engineering
’24 is wrapping up her co-op cycle as a software engineering intern for
Nasdaq. The Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, native shared her thoughts on her
history in engineering, her experience at Drexel and what she has learned
on co-op.
How did you come to be interested in engineering in general, and in
your discipline in particular?
I have been saying I would be an engineer when I grew up since I was first
introduced to robotics at Girl Scout Camp in elementary school. This led me
to attend my county’s vocational high school for engineering technology,
where I was introduced to every engineering discipline. I found learning to
code during our electrical engineering year to be the most rewarding by far
because I had always imagined coding would be too difficult for me.
What did you learn from your previous co-op experiences?
At my time at NAVSEA, I learned how to read, develop and wire electrical
drawings along with how to carry out laboratory testing processes. I then
worked as a Software Quality Analyst at Apex Fintech which introduced me to
what professional software development was like and helped me develop my
technical communication.
What were you looking for in a co-op that led to your applying for this
position?
I was just getting into personally investing in the stock market at the
time and enjoyed the financial aspect of my previous coop at APEX Fintech,
so a Nasdaq Software Engineering position listing in the Drexel co-op
system immediately caught my eye. I really wanted a position where I was
more involved in development as opposed to focusing on testing as well as
the opportunity to get creative with front end web development. I was not
looking for a particular company size, but rather I wanted to work for a
company that worked in person at least once a week.
What are you working on in this co-op?
At this co-op I am working on a team that automates daily trading data
reports and interactive dashboards for Nasdaq customers and employees to
best represent our trading data.
How does what you’re working on connect with what you’ve learned in the
classroom?
Through this Nasdaq Co-op I have been exposed to so many aspects of data
engineering and database management which I had not seen previously.
However, each day I apply the programing techniques and efficiency
strategies that I learned at Drexel in courses such as Advanced Programming
for Engineers, Advanced Programing Tools and Techniques, and Data
Structures.
How has the co-op experience informed your professional goals?
This job thoroughly affirmed my decision to major in computer engineering,
but also lead me to add a minor in Data Science. I would say both my
current co-op role and career goals are an equal combination of Computer
Engineering and Data Science. As someone who has felt so indecisive the
past four years at Drexel, I feel as though I would still not know whether
to lean more towards the electrical engineering or computer engineering
route without having at least one 6-month co-ops in both fields.
Learn more about the Drexel Engineering Co-Op Program