In school, Ruthvik Sankar is an international student pursuing a Master of Science in Robotics Engineering.
Out of the classroom, Ruthvik is an aspiring musician who recently began relearning the guitar. He’s an information consumer, preferring to scroll through research articles more than his social feeds. And he’s a curious explorer. Ruthvik loves to travel, especially when he’s behind the wheel of a car, in his quest to learn more about the people and places on the planet.
When he has time, he ventures out on weekend trips. He’s been checking out the Great Lakes. He visited Lake Huron on a recent trip to Port Huron and went to Chicago and viewed Lake Michigan.
This curiosity about the world has led to his role as a new student editorial assistant for the UM-Dearborn’s External Relations department. He’ll be writing about campus life and student experiences.
Ruthvik knows a few things about college life. A native to Bangalore, Ruthvik graduated with a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering while in India.
Now in graduate school in the U.S. — his first international experience — he’s learning what it’s like to live away from family and childhood friends and navigate new aspects of student life. While on campus, he has observed immense diversity around him with different cultures and people forming a welcoming environment for everyone. “(Coming to a new place) was more fear than worry, but the people here are very sweet and loving. I felt at ease right away.”
But there are still a few areas left to navigate, like his kitchen. When it comes to cooking, Ruthvik said he’s still working on that life skill. “I am a strict vegetarian and thanks to my nonexistent cooking skills, food was a huge concern.”
Another area he’s working on? Making friends with the Michigan winter. “It is super cold and a little frustrating. Although, I did get to experience snowfall for the first time. I had romanticised it in my head. But now that I have felt it, it’s good to look at it from afar,” Ruthvik said. However, winter sports do interest him. Ice skating and skiing are on his to-do list.
Keeping focused on his studies is also on his to-do list. After all, he chose UM-Dearborn to connect with the faculty experts and industry leaders.
“UM-Dearborn has an excellent student-to-teacher ratio with more industry exposure compared to other universities. The teaching is more practical and hands-on, something more than just textbook lectures. The projects and collaboration of the robotics department with various companies were a huge draw for me.”
Article by Rudra Mehta. Rudra is also a new student editorial assistant in the campus’ External Relations department who will be writing about student life and campus experiences. Have a story idea? Feel free to reach out to him. For next month’s Campus Colleagues in Reporter, we’ll highlight Rudra.
