Rodrigo Daniel Solis Ortega

Rodrigo graduated with a masters degree in Mechatronics and Robotics in 2015 before returning to Leeds in 2016 to pursue his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Leeds, and is also currently working as a Teaching Assistant in the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering.

Postgraduate life at Leeds

When deciding on where to study for his masters degree, Rodrigo found that the University of Leeds was one of the few universities that offered a course on Mechatronics. As he wasn’t fond of big cities, Rodrigo found Leeds and the University of Leeds to be the perfect match for him.

For his masters research project, titled "Software tool for electric power estimation of robotic exoskeletons", Rodrigo work on developing a software tool to estimate the power requirements of a robotic exoskeleton. He said, “the tool was aimed to facilitate the design process behing robotic exoskeletons, specifically the selection of the actuator technology.”

After graduating in 2015 with a masters degree, Rodrigo returned to Leeds to pursue his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering a year later. He said “The high teaching standards of the University of Leeds gave me the confidence to pursue a PhD degree here. After living here for a year during my masters degree, I also fell in love with the University and its’ huge international community, which is also very evident in the city itself.”

The high teaching standards at Leeds gave me the confidence to pursue my PhD here.

Professional working life at Leeds

“Having the opportunity to perform as a demonstrator during my PhD studies was increadibly valuable. As a non-native English speaker, this role was helpful for me to practice conveying and communicating complex engineering terminologies to students, as well as helping me to gain confidence in conducting face-to-face teaching.

In my last year of my PhD studies, I secured a part-time Teaching Assistant role in the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and have been involved in the supervision of the professional project of two Masters students. In addition to this, I have been involved in the design and delivery of some practical laboratoies modules, as well as transposing these to an online delivery format.”

I have been in Leeds for almost six years now and it has been such an amazing experience.

Life after Leeds

“I have been in Leeds for almost six years now, and it has been such an amazing experience. The city has something for everyone. The international community and support offered by the University is excellent as well. Now that I have finished my PhD studies, I am looking for a position as a machine learning or data science engineer, or as an embedded system enginner.”