MS-MIS student learns concepts to create better solutions.

With a long list of impressive jobs to record on his resume—spanning engineering, management, project management, and asset management, among others—José Rodriguez (MS-MIS '05) decided the time was right for him to reinforce his already considerable knowledge and position himself for success in a changing environment.


José Rodriguez
"I want to contribute to solving difficult oil and gas production challenges, drawing on the best from my production, operations, and automation domain expertise to help create major improvements in the efficiency of production operation processes," he said.

To achieve this ambitious goal, he knew he needed more education beyond his bachelor's degree in electronics engineering (cum laude) from Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela, and his special certification in oil production asset management from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. He found the answer in the Master of Science-Management Information Systems (MS-MIS) program in the College.

"I was looking for a program that would enable me to understand each of the management information systems concepts important in my field, with just the right amount of detail on each, since I put together solutions and need to understand all the relevant ideas," Rodriguez said. "Thanks to the MS-MIS program in the College, I now understand concepts, technology, and trends, and can put them together."

When Rodriguez graduated in June, he had maintained a 4.0, and faculty members voted him "best overall student." Prospective employers also were enthusiastic. A number of U.S. companies recognized the strength of his professional and educational background and offered him a job.

"I chose Halliburton because it has a digital and consulting division that focuses on selling software and services for the oil industry," he said. "It is similar to the work I did in Venezuela, but with a key difference: I lacked some of the IT academic concepts then. I used them, but I didn't understand them in depth the way I do now."

Rodriguez was drawn to Miami, where he has many friends, and where he knew the kindness of others would make it an easy place for him to live with his wife and their eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter. But, it was really the master's program in the College that brought him to South Florida.

"I couldn't find another master's program that covered all the concepts," he said.

Despite his commitment and enthusiasm, the program did bring challenges.

"The key factor to my success in the program is that I didn't work while I was doing it," he said. "I spent most of my time at the Univeristy. And my family understood the stress of school and of an unsettled political situation in Venezuela, and supported me."

In late August, Hurricane Katrina's destructive impact affected U.S. oil and gas production. With his new MS-MIS, added to his past work history in Venezuela, Canada, and Houston, Rodriguez has positioned himself well to contribute to this vital industry.