Thank you to Kingland Systems, one of our 2018 LAS Week sponsors!
Kingland Systems is looking for advanced interns in the areas of Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Accounting, Marketing, and Business Analysts, to name a few. They are also actively looking for Data Research Analysts (DRAs) interns. Their interns work on big, complex problems in a fast-paced environment with some of the best people in the software development and data science business.
Kingland is growing and looking for individuals who like to tackle big challenges, want to work on mission-critical solutions, desire to make a difference in the world — and to be rewarded for that effort.
"Our solutions provide the largest banks, audit firms, and insurance companies in the world with the tools and data to manage risk, comply with regulations, and improve their operations," Shele Blum, Kingland Systems recruiting and talent coordinator, said. "They support the very foundations of the global financial system, helping to ensure fairness, honesty, and transparency on a global stage that generates, monitors, and audits trillions of dollars of financial transactions — leading to a better and safer world."
Kingland Systems invites you to explore all the ways that quality of work meets quality of life—and launch yourself on an exciting new adventure.
Meet Joey Bingham, a current LAS student intern at Kingland Systems!
Major
Mathematics, with a focus in discrete math
When did you join Kingland?
"I started working as a data research analyst in early summer 2017, and I was promoted to advanced software engineering intern in July 2017."
What does a typical day look like in your role and what are your main responsibilities?
"One of my favorite parts of working at Kingland, and specifically on a development team, is that there are no typical days. Every morning starts with
a SCRUM meeting, where the whole team gets together to discuss what they worked on the previous day and what needs to happen that day, but after that it’s all up in the air. Whether it’s working as a front-end developer on bug that was found in the user interface
(UI), diving into the depths of the batch pipeline as a dev-operative or tweaking the heuristics as cognitive engineer, every day is a chance to see and learn something new. My main responsibilities evolve with the needs of the team, which are always changing."
"We also have plenty of non-work related activities as well, such as Kingland Mental Break and Relaxation (KMBR) which is every Monday and Thursday. KMBR is where all of the teams come together and do various activities, like the game Marshmallow Race, or Penny Towers. One time we had professional masseuses in. It’s always something new."
What is something you particularly enjoy about your internship?
"What I love about Kingland is that they treat their interns like real employees. If you’re working here, you aren’t getting fluff projects. You do real
projects, with a real multinational team, for real consumers, with a real impact. It’s an amazing feeling. And with that, if you express an interest in doing something that would help your team, they are more than glad to help you learn it and implement it
into the solution. I started off as a cognitive engineering intern, but the more I worked on the solution the more I wanted to get more experience with the full-stack.
Within the week I was being trained on the UI code. Now I am starting to work on the data pipelines. I have learned more here about how software is interacted with, and how these small projects I do fit together to make a solution than I have in any class."
What is one work project you are proud of?
"One project that really sticks out in my memory was when I had wrapped up my work on the cognitive engine side of the platform and I was just starting working on the UI. I had never done anything remotely close to this; I had never used this programming language before, nor worked on a code-base this large, nor
really thought about how anything like this worked. Nevertheless, I was navigating my way through the task, which was really rather simple looking back, just add a sorting button to a column. I was learning the process as I was working. After a week of development
I finally cracked it. I was happy for a moment, I pushed my code on to testing, and then I forgot about the fact that I had even done it. A few weeks later the whole company came together for a day of demos, where the various teams were showing off their projects,
and I saw the button I had added and I couldn’t help but feel proud. I went from knowing nothing about how to work on a UI to having my code being showed of, and further sold to actual companies. It was an incredible feeling."
How do you use mathematics in this internship?
"My experiences with algorithms from my graph theory and combinatorics courses have been invaluable to me. Especially with very complex problems, having
a mental tool set for not just computational problems but for general problem solving as well has helped me immensely with this position. Being able to abstract problems down to their roots and change them into something that I know the solution to, like
in abstract algebra and other theory courses, has helped me with my bug triage/fixing and other skills that I invoke often in my position. Also, having a heavy proofs and logic based background has allowed me to effectively articulate my ideas to my colleagues
and management, which has been a valuable asset for me."
What are your future career goals currently and how will this internship benefit you?
"I am hoping to go to graduate school to get a Ph.D in computer science or engineering with an emphasis on data science and security. This internship
has taught me so many skills that I would need going into that field, as well as provided a confidence boost."
Anything else you want to share?
"I recognize that this is one of the best places that I will probably ever work for. The people, the projects, and the company are all so wonderful.
Whatever I do next and wherever I go, I will bring a little bit of Kingland with me. Do your best to get an internship here."
Meet Matt Good, an LAS alumnus and senior vice president at Kingland Systems!
Majors at ISU
’00 Computer Science and Music
Current Kingland Systems position
Senior Vice President of Architecture, Product Development
What are some of your main responsibilities in your current position?
"In my role, I collaboratively help to provide vision, strategy and software architecture leadership within our Product Development group. In particular, I serve as the primary ‘conduit’ between Product Development and
Business Development within Kingland, providing the architecture and technology guidance necessary to support the growth of our business. This is a responsibility I exceptionally enjoy, as it allows me to highlight my passion of evangelizing the excellent work done, and products built, by Kingland team members in support of new and existing clients."
What does a typical day look like in your role?
"Since every day can bring a different challenge, it may be easier to look at the trends on a month-to-month basis. Each month brings forth a familiar cadence of Product Development leadership collaboration, particularly in the adaptive development processes within our Agile Sprint cadences every two weeks. Beyond my involvement in the natural Product Development rhythm, each month brings a variety of work with new and existing clients. There is always the excitement of working with clients to understand how our continued software enhancements within our Products can provide excellent results for their specific challenges and use cases!"
What is something you particularly enjoy about your job and/or your work environment?
"It’s all about the people! Of course the work is exciting, continuing to build software Products that delight our clients, but the people I work with every day make it all worthwhile. Our teams are so incredibly talented
that I feel fortunate to work with them and learn from them every day, towards our common goals of building excellent software Products for our clients."
What is one work project or work accomplishment you are proud of in the past year?
"Much of our Product Development work at Kingland has to do with some sort of data management use case that can be solved by excellent software development. One of our longer-term clients brought forth a new use case to
us in early 2016, regarding the mastering of data important to the mutual fund investment industry. Interestingly, this data is currently available publicly on the web in the form of documentation; however, this documentation is meant for human reading and is generally difficult for software solutions to consume. Leveraging our continued investment in Artificial Intelligence development, we were able to build software that significantly automates the collection and extraction of this data from the public documentation, providing a great benefit to our client and their clients. This software solution was deployed to Production for active use in June 2017, and I had the privilege of being involved from a leadership perspective in delivering this solution to our client."
What advice do you have to current ISU students interested in your field?
"Soak up all knowledge and new technology as much as possible, and continue ‘learning how to learn.’ Software development is constantly evolving with all of the new technology that’s available, primarily making something
that was difficult a few years prior just a bit easier. Particularly in the Computer Science field, I’d encourage students to take at least one advanced course in Databases, and one in Artificial Intelligence. It’s highly likely that a software developer will do some work in these areas over the course of a 30-year career."
Anything else you feel would be important to share with undergraduate students? "While a strong dedication to coursework is important for achieving great grades, excellent memories can be formed with extra-curricular involvement. It can be anything really – clubs, athletics, intramurals, music, whatever – anything that broadens the university experience and creates a lasting set of memories that are always fondly remembered. Particularly for me, I enjoy tailgating at ISU football games with friends from my involvement in Music at ISU!"
A favorite ISU memory
"With my Music degree pursuit, I was involved in a variety of groups and ensembles, including Marching Band Drumline, Pep Bands, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and Percussion Ensemble. This involvement was fantastic for
me, and I always particularly remember the excitement of ISU football game days as a member of the Marching Band Drumline."
Favorite ISU class
"Because of my separate Computer Science and Music degrees, I’ll pick two: Computer Science 472 (Artificial Intelligence), and Music 119/219/319 (Percussion Studio, and the courses that represented my percussion
lessons with the late Dr. Barry Larkin). The Artificial Intelligence course prepared me for what was to come at Kingland, and I’ll always look back fondly on the percussion teachings of my mentor and friend Dr. Larkin."