This summer, students from the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics discovered new avenues for professional preparation and practical hands-on experience. Lerner College students pursued an array of internships, externships and other professional development opportunities. From MBA scholars to undergraduates entering their second year at UD, students across a spectrum of Lerner programs shared their experiences accomplishing an assortment of projects.
Our “My Summer Internship” series highlights these unique experiences, showcasing how students translated classroom knowledge into real-world success.
Olamide (Lamal) Ayodele, financial services analytics Ph.D. student, spent his summer as a quantitative analytics associate with JPMorgan Chase Asset and Wealth Management.
Lerner: How did you find out about this internship? Why did you pursue it?
Ayodele: I found this internship through the JPMorgan Chase careers website. Since the start of my Ph.D., I have observed that a good number of Ph.D. graduates who successfully transitioned into industry from day one often gained experience through internships, which made me realize how critical it would be for my own career. I pursued this opportunity because of my strong interest in quantitative research, trading, and analytics, and I saw the role as the ideal bridge between my academic background and applying those skills to real-world financial challenges.
Lerner: What was the most exciting task or project that you completed?
Ayodele: An exciting project I completed was building a machine learning model to predict the balances of one of the bank’s key books. Since this book is a major revenue source, the model provided a way to anticipate future revenues with greater accuracy in different economic conditions. It was especially exciting because the problem had been a long-standing challenge for the team, and my contribution filled the missing piece in a larger strategic project.
Lerner: What did you learn from the internship that you think you wouldn’t have learned elsewhere?
Ayodele: I learned a great deal about how the industry operates and how professionals approach decision-making. One key takeaway was that what looks best from a purely quantitative perspective may not always be the best choice in practice due to regulatory or strategic considerations, which requires finding the right balance. Most importantly, I gained first-hand exposure to JPMorgan Chase’s unique culture of collaboration and innovation – something I could not have learned anywhere else.
Lerner: What is an example of a time where you were able to apply what you’ve learned at Lerner to your role?
Ayodele: One example is how I approached the problem from a business perspective, a foundational concept of what I learned from one of our core courses in FSAN – Business Process Management Innovation.
Lerner: Did you face any challenges during your internship? If so, what was the issue and how did you overcome it?
Ayodele: One challenge I faced was navigating tool installations and requesting access to files, since privacy and security protocols made the process less straightforward than I was used to. At first, this slowed me down, but with persistence – and the support of a helpful team member – I was able to get past the hurdles.
Lerner: What are your career plans, and how do you think the internship will push you closer to your professional goals?
Ayodele: My career goal is to work in quantitative research and analytics, applying advanced modeling to real financial problems. This internship pushed me closer by giving me hands-on experience and showing me how technical solutions must balance with regulatory and strategic considerations. It confirmed that this is the path I want to pursue long-term.