Fulbright student Stayner Rodriguez is fascinated with technology. In Panama, he’s an electronic engineering educator who teaches students computational architecture at Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua (USMA). On that campus, Rodriguez also helps oversee the , an international initiative to show how gravity can vary with latitude and generate interest in experimental physics.
And, on his latest adventure, the 28-year-old graduate student is earning his Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence at -Dearborn — bringing him to the city that inspired his technological interests.
“I grew up with my father telling me all about Henry Ford and the assembly line. Henry Ford’s thinking changed the world and now I am studying at a place where Mr. Ford lived. This is where I wanted to study. My father was very excited about this too,” says Rodriguez, who started his degree in the fall.
He says familiarity with the University of Michigan name and reputation — he watched U-M college football in Panama — combined with the published AI research and professor expertise at -Dearborn made the university a great fit for his Fulbright Scholar goal. Rodriguez wants to gain knowledge to help him set up the first AI-focused academic program at his university in Panama.
“As engineers, we need to build systems so we make sure that we use AI technologies for good. I’m not worried about AI taking over the world — that’s a science fiction point of view. But there is a responsibility that comes with developing a new technology and the systems around it,” Rodriguez says. “When we teach about AI, we need to help students realize the importance of using it in a way to make our lives collectively better.”
Rodriguez says engineering experiences have helped him see more of the world. When he was an undergraduate at USMA, he traveled to Canada and Japan as part of the international robotics competition RoboCup. And, as a university educator, he’s taught students from all around the world. “I want to learn as much as I can from other people. The more we learn about how people live and their needs, the better solutions we will develop as engineers,” he says. In addition to his bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering, he has a master’s degree in business analytics from ADEN University in Panama.
Rodriguez wanted to study in the U.S. because it’s known as a global leader in AI development and many tech industry giants have their headquarters here. “There’s Ford, Amazon, Google and many more — I would like to get a summer internship or job at a company so I can continue to build my resume and take my experiences back with me to Panama. AI is a newer topic in Panama and my goal is to develop a university program. There's a lot I can learn while here,” says Rodriguez, who read the positive alumni reviews about the -Dearborn program and its industry connections prior to selecting -Dearborn as one of his top Fulbright program choices.
In the classroom, Rodriguez says he’s been very impressed with his -Dearborn professors. He’s especially enjoying his Deep Learning course with Computer and Information Science Lecturer Khalid Kattan. The class is learning how to build deep-learning models — deep learning is a type of machine learning where multiple layers of processing are used to extract progressively higher-level features from data — to solve real-world computational problems. “I look forward to that class because I’m excited to see the new things he will teach,” Rodriguez says.
He says studying in the United States is a dream come true. But, as an established adult with a wife, apartment, car and career in Panama, Rodriguez says he hesitated to apply for the Fulbright, afraid it may be too late to move thousands of miles from home. His wife encouraged him to pursue the opportunity.
“In high school, and then later on in college, I wanted to study here, but I didn’t have the finances,” Rodriguez says. “My wife, Tabatha, reminded me that the answer to my dream would always be ‘no’ if I didn’t apply for the Fulbright. When I found out I got the scholarship, I was a little nervous to start somewhere new — but my wife was my point of reflection. She says when you get opportunities like this, you take them and figure it out. We gave the car to my mom, the apartment got rented and we moved.” Rodriguez will resume working at Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua when he finishes his degree.
Settled into his Dearborn apartment, Rodriguez says he likes the diversity of the Dearborn community, the beauty of campus and the vibrancy of the city itself. “In Panama, we have so many people from around the world who are there because of the canal. I’m impressed to see so much diversity in Dearborn too,” he says. “The architecture is incredible too. The pictures you see online do not accurately represent how beautiful this city and campus are. The first thing I said to my father when I got here was how much he was going to love Dearborn. It is even better than I imagined.”
Rodriguez's father passed away unexpectedly earlier this month. During their last call, they discussed plans for his dad to come visit the place he told his son about decades earlier.
“He wanted to go to the Henry Ford Museum and we were going to do that together,” Rodriguez says. “My father was one of the smartest people I knew and he wanted to be an engineer but didn’t have the opportunity. He would share books with me about how electricity is made, he showed me how a motor works and he shared his love of engineering with me. He’s the reason I am where I am today.”
Through his father’s legacy, along with the education Rodriguez is gaining through his international experiences, he hopes to improve people’s lives by teaching responsible AI use to future generations. “We all have our goals in how we want to make the world better,” he says. “Thanks to my father, this Fulbright award and the people I’ve met along the way, I see a way I can contribute to making the world a better place.”
Story by Sarah Tuxbury
