Rod is an astrophysicist from Brazil with a M.Sc. in Space Engineering focused in Space Mechanics & Controls. Rod also specialized in AI by working as a programming teacher and data scientist, and co-founded SEARCH, the first organization at Purdue dedicated to astronaut-related initiatives. Currently, Rod is working on the development of space missions from a multi-level perspective. In the systems level, his research concentrates on exploring the design space of innovative space systems via graph representation and generative design. In the System-of-Systems level, multiple systems are simulated in different mission architecture configurations towards optimizing mission metrics. In his free time, he enjoys outdoors activities like hiking, as well as instrumental music and philosophical books. Research interests: Space Mission Architectures; Generative Design; Deep Learning; Explainable AI; Space System Design; Optimization.