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1953–Present · Bayamón · Engineer • Inventor • Aerospace Engineering

Engineer and inventor born in 1953 in Bayamón. Rodríguez served as Director of the Test Laboratory in the Engineering Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and invented a portable, battery-operated lift seat for people suffering from knee arthritis. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez in 1976 and soon afterward joined NASA as an engineer. He earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama in 1986 and a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Mississippi in 1997. Rodríguez led the Solid Rocket Booster accident investigation team following the Space Shuttle Columbia accident in February 2003 and also served as project manager for the Space Launch Initiative program.