Fletcher, Joe

Joe Fletcher, a computer science major, worked on an NSF funded research grant to create a web app that uses crowdsourcing to solve problems such as, “Where was this picture taken?” The app was then launched on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing platform.  Joe became involved with CEED even before he arrived for his freshman year, participating in the 2012 Student Transition Engineering Program (STEP).  He later acted as a CEED peer mentor, and is currently a member of the College of Engineering’s Dean’s Team. In 2014, he was awarded the Generation Google Scholarship. He also served as the vice president of external affairs for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) organization for three years.

In spite of such a full schedule, Joe is philosophical about what is important in life:  “Hanging out with friends is what recharges me. As a human, I can only go so far and for so long before needing to recharge. Making sure I set aside time for fun activities is essential to being a successful student. From going out to eat, watching movies, or playing sports--as long as you find something new and different that allows you to discover new things about yourself outside from academics.”

Born in Arlington, Virginia, Joe moved back to his family’s homeland, Bolivia, at the age of three.  He and his mother returned to the United States when he was 10 in order to pursue a better education.  He has interned at Hewlett Packard, Cisco Systems and Qualcomm. Joe is exploring his future possibilities but plans to eventually seek either an MS in Computer Science or an MBA in order to pursue an entrepreneurial path in software development. 

Interestingly, Joe credits Tony Stark (Iron Man) as an influence. He explains, “While fictitious, Tony Stark resembles the engineer, innovator, and visionary I strive to be. What makes Tony Stark stand out is his relaxed, charismatic, free-bird state of mind. In other words, he does what he is passionate about. There is never continuous stress, as we see in the real world, about his career or company. He is passionate about one thing—helping people. With or without superpowers, he is an excellent representation of how one individual can have an impact that goes a long way—that is what I strive to be.”

Quite the well-rounded student, Joe is able to offer good advice and support to his fellow students or prospective students:  “Time flies! I know you have probably heard this before but really do take advantage of every opportunity you get while you are here at Tech. For a typical student graduating in four years, it really is not a lot of time. That is only three or four summer opportunities to either do research, intern, or take classes. During the school year, one mostly focuses on their classes and their grades--but it’s really more than just that. Make sure to join organizations/clubs/societies, get involved with something you are truly passionate about! Above all, don't come to Tech, take classes, earn your degree, and leave. Your time is limited here--make something out of it! Make a mark, leave a legacy, do something to better the school you know and love.”