SEBASTIAN RODRIGUEZ

High School: James Martin High School

Hometown: Arlington, TX

Sebastian Rodriguez isn’t discouraged by how few Latinxs are in STEM fields. If anything, this young computer scientist looks forward to paving the way for other Hispanics like him to take on the field. Introduced to computer science in his freshman year of high school, Sebastian quickly became interested in the subject, an interest which soon turned toward cybersecurity. His dedication and curiosity in these areas eventually led to him being recognized as a semi-finalist competitor in CyberPatriot – the National Youth Cyber Education Program.

Last year, Sebastian contributed to his team getting a first-place win at the Lockheed Martin CyberQuest Competition. Sebastian also earned his Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) in Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies and was recognized as a National Cyber Scholar with Honors. He has additionally received the National Hispanic Recognition Award and was acknowledged as a NASA High School Aerospace Scholar.

Most recently, he played a role in his school's drone team securing 3rd place and the Best Presentation Award at the Bell AVR Drone Competition. Moreover, his RoboBoat team won the Social Media Award for yet another year and impressively finished ahead of teams from Cornell, Georgia Tech, and the US Coast Guard in this year’s competition.

In addition to his competitive edge, Sebastian puts his tech skills to use and develops his computer science knowledge through his internship at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and as a member of his school’s Computer Science Club, Drone Club, RoboBoat club, and Hispanic Student Association. He competes in the University Interscholastic League and organizes his school’s annual hackathon.

Sebastian is passionate about sharing his knowledge and skills with his community. The teen helped develop a website to share information on privacy protection in straightforward, simple language, which he hoped would demystify cybersecurity. He also has plans for developing bilingual tech content to assist non-native speakers in better navigating the ever-changing technological landscape. Furthermore, he fondly recalls volunteering at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History where he explained STEM concepts to young elementary school students. Reflecting on this experience, Sebastian wrote, “I was able to help teach kids who were curious about certain parts of the museum, like the space and power exhibits; for me, it was almost like I was nurturing the STEM-loving child that I was a long time ago, so helping these kids learn more about the world was a way of giving back to my community.”

Sebastian has earned a 4.0 GPA while taking various advanced placement courses in Chemistry, Computer Science, Physics, and Psychology. In the fall, he will attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, Rice University, Carnegie Mellon University, or the University of Texas at Austin, where he intends to study computer and electrical engineering. This young tech wizard hopes to take his talents and skills all the way to Disney’s offices as he dreams of being an Imagineer – melding STEM with creativity in order to make magic.