Electrical and Electronics Engineering/Statement of purpose-2

 

Applying for Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

 

 

 
 
 

            I am a final-year student in the Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) program in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology,

Madras (IIT-M). After acquiring a sound foundation and excelling in the Electrical Engineering program at IIT Madras, I now aspire to pursue graduate studies. Subsequently, I shall outline my interests, career-objectives, goals and my plans for the future.           

 

          I have an innate ability to think about, and to extrapolate beyond, what is taught. This, coupled with my inclination for basic sciences, Mathematics and Physics, helped me secure 374th rank in the Joint Entrance Examination for Indian Institutes of Technology. At this juncture, I chose Electrical Engineering for my undergraduate studies. After a fruitful stay of more than three and a half years at IIT, I realize I have substantial knowledge in a wide range of areas like Electronics, Devices, Communications, Signal Processing and Power Systems.           

 

          Among these areas, I developed a great interest for the field of Communications and Signal Processing. Consequently, I chose my electives judiciously. As a result of the enthusiasm I showed in the relevant courses, I learnt, in depth, the concepts underlying these, besides performing extremely well in them. Driven by interest, I also am doing independent reading in Information Theory. All these convinced me that my aptitude for Mathematics and creative thinking would be of immense help in fields such as Information Theory, Coding Theory, Wireless Communication and Signal Processing.           

 

          I have always been interested in a career in teaching and research. In order to gain experience in research, I undertook summer internship with IBM-India Research Labs, IIT-Delhi. After a detailed discussion with people involved in active research and with my experience at IBM, I realised that qualities like a clear understanding of concepts, a well-focussed mind, patience and integrity are vital for good research. I feel that I have these qualities in good measure. The importance of perseverance and team-effort was driven home to me during my work with IBM. The experience at IBM helped me in courses like Artificial Neural Networks in which we worked on projects as a team.

 

Following my interest in research in Communications, as a part of my major thesis in my senior year, I am currently working on a project which deals with constraints related to High-speed DECT-based Internet download system. This project aims at exploiting the fact that the internet traffic is highly asymmetric and bursty in nature to achieve high speeds in wireless medium. For reliable transmission in wireless medium, we need error correction. I plan to achieve this by using a combination of ARQ and Forward Error Correction on the asymmetric channel.

 

I was a Teaching Assistant for the undergraduate course Analog circuits-1. Here, my good communication skills and a clear understanding of concepts helped me and gave me a good degree of self-confidence. Enriched by this experience, I intend to be a Teaching Assistant for Principles of Communication in my final semester.

 

The aforementioned experiences substantiated my choice of research and teaching as a career objective. Graduate study in a reputable institute, I believe, would help me in this direction. In this context, I find the graduate program in Electrical Engineering at California Institute of Technology, with eminent faculty, working in areas that parallel my interests, and the facilities, the ideal choice.           

 

          Hence a doctoral program in a highly research-oriented environment like yours would prove invaluable. I feel that, with my credentials, I would be able to measure up to the high standards set by your institute. Kindly consider me for admission with full financial aid.


Back to top