I am Juan Manuel Rodriguez, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Aalborg University, Denmark. I hold a Ph.D. in Computer Science and a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering, and I have over 15 years of experience in teaching and research. My academic work sits at the intersection of applied machine learning, deep learning, and data engineering. My research spans several active areas, including recommender systems, misinformation detection in social media, multi-modal models, and other applications of ML.

My motivation for applying to the DDSA mentorship program stems from a genuine passion for supporting the growth of early-career researchers and data scientists. Over the past year, I have had the rewarding experience of supervising a mentee through the program, a journey that is now coming to a successful close, and which has reinforced how meaningful and impactful a well-structured mentoring relationship can be. It is also an opportunity for future networking as knowing new people can bring opportunities in the future.