Civil Engineering/Statement of purpose-2

                                    
                                                        Technology has changed the face of Civil Engineering is the last two decades. The most visible impact of this is in the area of application of Information Technology to the traditional fields of Engineering Design and Construction. Emerging technologies and principles of E-commerce have today become integral parts of the working of the construction industry. I am greatly fascinated by the complexity of modern day construction that necessitates the application of tools of Information Technology at every stage of design, construction and management of projects. It is in such challenging areas that I want to make fundamental contributions.

I hail from a family of medical professionals, and this has ingrained in me a strong inclination to pursue a career in the professional service sector. The Engineering profession was a natural choice considering the firm grounding in mathematics and sciences that I received during my school education. IIT JEE 98, the joint entrance exam for the Indian Institutes of Technology, saw me qualify within the top 1.5% out of more than 100,000 aspirants. I chose Civil Engineering as my major b

 ecause it seemed to encompass all facets of my interests. The course structure offered by the Civil Engineering department at IIT Madras has indeed given me a broad perspective and my understanding of the subject has received tremendous fillips.

 

Among all the branches of Civil Engineering, Computer Aided Engineering has caught my imagination the most. Computer Aided Engineering aims for a synergy between various domains of Engineering Design and Construction and this I find extremely exciting. The applications of this field are all pervading and have touched every segment of civil engineering. By virtue of being industry oriented in its applications, the field also offers the researcher plenty of opportunities to do high impact work of the best quality.

 

As part of the undergraduate curriculum, I have been exposed to Computer techniques with the courses, Introduction to Computing and Computer Methods in Civil Engineering. These courses have given me a sound grasp of the fundamentals of programming and the application of these techniques to Civil Engineering.  I gained valuable exposure to object oriented programming while working on a mini project to develop interactive software for the design of steel columns.  I have done a course, Advanced Structural Analysis, which has given me valuable exposure to matrix methods for structural analysis and its application. I have gained useful knowledge of decision-making tools and also honed my computer skills with the course, GIS in Civil Engineering. As part of this course I worked on a mini-project to identify locations for rain water harvesting in the campus of IIT Madras. This required me to collect data on topography, drainage pattern, soil characteristics within the campus and integrate them into the GIS database. Next stage was to identify the ideal locations for locating the recharge pits and sumps. PC Arc Info software was used for analysis and SML was used to customize the interface for user inputs.

 

As part of my B Tech Project, I am working to develop "Cost models for low cost housing". The challenges of developing a methodology for selecting and evaluating cost-effective technologies are multifold. It has required me to develop a deep understanding of the socio-economic forces at work, collect exhaustive data on housing projects and develop an interactive set-up for decision making. I am presently working to apply the concept of a statistically generated pre-design cost estimation function to the cost model. The cost model is to be a computer application in Visual Basic that will combine features of spreadsheets and data bases.

 

Backed by the experiences from these projects, I am now confident of my ability to work independently and in a team. I have also found that I have good aptitude and a love for basic research. With regard to these projects and otherwise, I have made numerous presentations and feel confident of my abilities to articulate ideas well. My student life at IIT Madras has also provided me with a wealth of opportunities to hone my leadership and organizational skills. I have been the organizing coordinator for the Debate and Quiz competitions in SAARANG, the cultural festival of IIT Madras and also the Secretary of the Civil Engineering Association of IIT Madras. My tenure as the Hostel Literary Secretary allowed me to show initiative and motivate my fellow hostel mates. That we won the highly competitive literary and cultural competition at IIT Madras has made me confident of handling responsibility and reassured me of my ability to deliver under pressure. I am sure that I will be able to translate these experiences into substantial assets when pursuing graduate studies.

 

The coursework I have completed along with the experience I derived from my project work have not only given me an insight into my areas of interest but also the confidence to pursue them. I now feel the need for a good graduate program that will assist me in deepening this insight and broadening my knowledge base.

 

My interest in Computer Aided Engineering makes North Carolina State University my foremost choice. The top class research work that the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering produces is clearly indicative of the superlative research ambience and the excellent quality of facilities. There are few universities where one can pursue work in core as well as interface areas of Civil Engineering. In my view, North Carolina State University is without equal in this respect because of its distinguished faculty and the active involvement of industry in its research programs. It is my belief that as a student I need as much exposure as I can get and am quite convinced that undertaking graduate study in North Carolina State University would be a very rewarding experience.

 

I look forward to a long and fruitful association with North Carolina State University.


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