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MaryShelley

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Everything posted by MaryShelley

  1. Hi, everyone. So I wanted to know how many graduate students find time to participate in design/innovation contests conducted every year by the likes of Analog Devices, TI, Cadence and so on. I was interested in utilising this summer to partly think of some ideas and participate next year. Has anyone been involved before?
  2. My first semester has been a roller coaster of sorts... From putting up with the peskiest roommates to being forced to move out in the middle of the semester and sleeping in the library for three weeks, from not being able to secure a part-time job or assistantship despite very relevant work-experience and extra curriculars, from an eating disorder to poor grades to sexual abuse, I have had a rather eventful semester. I actually also applied to two other schools with the intention of transferring from my current school, but I have been denied again. I am burned out with not an iota of concentrating ability left. I tried counselling but that doesn't help either, although I must admit I haven't been very proactive. But I just cannot bring myself to do anything anymore. I started freelancing to pay my bills but the job is very hectic with a meager salary, so to make time for studying I have literally been working round the clock. I feel lethargic and very stressed and burned now.... does anyone have any suggestions?
  3. Thank you for your kind words. But I have come to the point where I don't even want to go anywhere, I am simply not interested. I have come from a foreign land so that kind of makes things worse..... sorry to sound like Im complaining though
  4. How do you deal with it? Do you seek help on campus? Or is it just a passing phase?
  5. I joined ASU this semester, not very excited about the whole thing but determined to make it work. My field of interest is analog, and there is some great work, courses and a lot of professors in this field here. I have around eighteen months of prior work experience in this field, and I wanted to get a research assistantship.(I know it's not that easy), but I was even willing to work for free if required. First of all, almost all the students here are Indians, and after speaking to most on what courses to take, considering my background, they all said taking the 500 level courses in the first semester might be difficult and it would be more meaningful to take the 591 prerequisite courses instead. I thought it would help boost my GPA since it was my first semester, and I went with the flow, although I was familiar with the material in the 500 courses from reading at work. Big mistake. Huge. Not only did taking these courses prevent me from getting an RA, (or the chance to work in a lab without payment) under any professor in the Department, I was also discouraged at the career fair, where I was told I should be taking some advanced courses if I expect to get an internship. My faculty advisor said that most Master students here do not get RAs until completion of two full semesters, and only if they have a great GPA to show. My work experience counted for nothing here. The on-campus jobs. There are hordes of people on campus and these jobs finish like crazy. Getting a job on Tempe campus seems next to impossible so everyone starts commuting to Phoenx, just for the sake of work. And the costs at ASU are crazy. 1200$ for insurance? Everything in the on campus stores, including food is ridiculously expensive. The administration here is just a bunch of money hungry people, and the tuition fees (and how fast they hike them) are proof of it. Most of the students here are just "finish courses, get a job" people. At the risk of sounding egoistic, most of them don't seem to think for themselves, and just copy older answers. It happens, and I have seen it. I'm sorry for the rant. I have no intention of putting anyone down, I'm just presenting my side of the experience here, but I am very frustrated.
  6. Anyone willing to evaluate my SOP for Electrical Engg. Masters? We can swap probably
  7. Remember, write an SOP that is less about what you want them to hear and more about who you really are. An SOP should be answer "Why Masters, Why this field and Why this school". What sets you apart. Engineers are aplenty these days, so excelling at a few subjects is hardly something to screech about. Top 8%? That is more impressive. At the same time, don't make it sound like a revelation here and there sealed your decision. That's way too dramatic. Instead, express your revelations through the experiences that taught you something. Knit them to make a sweater that fits, not a piece of cloth that has all the elements but doesn't piece together.
  8. Hi, will someone please evaluate my SOP for Georgia Tech? If you could just reply to this thread, I'll PM you my SOP. Thanks in advance!
  9. Hi, I am planning to apply for MS in VLSI for Spring 2014 term. My planned specialisation is Analog and Mixed Signal VLSI Design. My undergraduate GPA is 8.0. Part of the reason for a dismal GPA was an accident in 5th semester, which happened a few days before my exams started. I have one year of work-experience in analog and mixed signal design at a semiconductor MNC based in California. I have worked on 4 projects here, out of which I've been extensively involved in major part of design in one. I have 3 unrelated undergraduate projects. I have one publication in a international journal, 2 others are under review. We are filing two patents for our internal innovation system. Besides this, i have some co-curricular and extra-curricular activities in college and 2 prizes in low-key national technical competitions(but unrelated). I'd like some help in determining my chances of getting into these colleges: 1.Georgia Tech 2.Carnegie Mellon University 3.University of Southern California, LA 4.Texas A&M University Also, what is the research scenario in Columbia and UIUC? How difficult is it to get in with my GPA?
  10. My GPA is 3.2, topper's is 3.56. I've clearly mentioned in the SOP that I have complete hands-on in the tools they use, and I've made it a little more technical. I've also shown that I have some decent extra-curriculars. My work-ex is completely relevant to my intended specialisation, but ironically, I also have a low score in the subject during my undergrad. Do they take into account reasons like a road accident? Honestly, it happened a week before the exams, and I hurt my eye. I'd suffered internal bleeding back then. Do you know of people who got in with low scores, but other good things on their profile?
  11. I'm from an Indian university, applying to some top graduate programs in the US. Though I have a decent GRE score, work-ex, some awards and all that, my aggregate is 79.27% as opposed to a topper's aggregate of 88%. There are many factors influencing this: depression, a road accident, a burn-out....but how true is it that programs like Gatech, UMich and UT Austin don't accept you unless you're a topper? Or if you're in the top 5-10%? Should I give up on applying to these places?
  12. Okay, I got you Thanks for helping out. I was wondering if it would sound better for me to replace the entire "not intellectually satisfying" sentence with what I actually learnt there, the industrial challenges, which motivated me to get where I am. That'll make it more optimistic and I'll sound like I'm adding technical juice to it. By the way, two other Georgia students/employees read the essay and said it was alright.
  13. I am required to write about honors, awards, extra-curriculars, what motivated me to choose graduate research, why GaTech and not some place else, and which Professors I'd like to work with and why. All in 4000 characters. Also, they ask us to make it completely our story, and not write stuff like what research is taking place and all. Or I could have made it hell more technical.
  14. Is the overall feel any better than the previous? Or does it still feel too flowery and lacking substance?
  15. I had to fit in my extra-curriculars somewhere, so I put it there. The last paragraph is on how I feel I'll be well-suited for the program, doesn't it feel that way? How does the rest of the essay feel? Not good enough?
  16. Everyone, thanks for your inputs. True, I read the whole thing again and it just seemed sentimental and silly, far from what I actually wanted to convey. I've been working late hours and didn't have a whole lot of time to re-read my SOP. Bad excuse, I know, but it's the reason it sucked. Please take the time to read this one, instead. The first paragraph may be a little wordy but I have tried to get down to business soon. They have specifically asked us to talk about honors, achievements and extra-curriculars so I had no option but to add them, particularly since they relate to energy harvesting which I have highlighted as being a research interest. Energy Harvesting. Analog Design. Four words that form the crux of my research passions. To be an integral part of the global solution to the energy crisis was the ultimate goal I had set for myself early on in school. However, my academic interests undertook new dimensions in my undergraduate years as our engineering curriculum unfurled, when I was introduced to the world of Analog Electronics, VLSI design and Control Systems. Integrating control system nuances with an amplifier’s intricacies possessed an underlying charm unbeknownst to me in any digital systems course. Then and there I decided this was my future. I wanted to be a part of this continuum, instead of just “sampling” it. My desire to research innovative energy solutions was not lost though, as I participated and was placed 2nd in the 20th State-Level Debate on Renewable Energy Resources. Besides this, I was one of the 30 finalists and subsequent 2nd prize winner for my essay and presentation on “Power Beams and Applications”, organized by the Department of Atomic Energy, India. In the National Technical Article Contest organized by DA-IICT, Gujarat, I had won 2nd prize for my short paper on RF Energy Harvesting. As an undergraduate, I found it challenging to find academicians who would mentor me in analog and mixed signal design projects, though, being an IEEE Student Member who had taken up the initiative to reinstate a dormant Student Branch in our College, I jumped at every opportunity to attend seminars and workshops that focused on research spotlights in the area. However, the experience of a few lectures was not intellectually satisfying enough, which is what motivated me to search for the graduate school where I could propel my research interests in low power analog and mixed signal design forward. It was during this search that I received my first ticket to a hands-on analog design experience, in the form of a 1-year internship at CONEXANT Systems, Pvt. Ltd., headquartered at New Port Beach, California. Here we tested, compared and optimized existing architectures to meet design specifications in all worst-case corners, tweaked and verified electro-static discharge circuits required to meet a specified Human-Body Model, created basic layouts and modeled parasitics between metal layers and tried our hand at building low-drop out regulators, amplifiers, bandgap reference circuits and other building blocks in various configurations. My graduate studies dream, though, was still alive. The Electronic Design and Applications TIG at GeorgiaTech seemed almost tailor-made for my interests. I found there to be a wide breadth offered in academic curriculum, ranging the gamut from oscillators and synthesizers to neuromorphic analog VLSI circuits, more than what I found in most other graduate programs. Having had experience in working with low-noise, programmable-gain amplifiers in my internship, I can definitely contribute to the design and testing of low-noise, high-bandwidth integrated circuits at the Georgia Analog Tech Consortium. It would be a pleasure to be able to work with Professor Gabriel Rincon-Mora whose extensive literature in the areas of low-power regulators, DC-to-DC and buck-to-boost converters I’ve enjoyed reading. I am very keen on being a part of the phenomenal research he has pioneered in self sustaining chips and low voltage CMOS design, particularly since my interests are exactly the same. Equally intriguing would be the opportunity to work with Dr. Jennifer Hasler, where I could be part of the development of analog VLSI models of learning and sensory processing. One of my final year electives was Artificial Neural Networks, and I’ve always yearned to see a learning network come alive on chip. None of my academic pursuits would have truly been complete without my experiences as a member of the Rotaract Club of Hyderabad East-a student derivation of the Rotary Club, the college newsletter’s editorial board and the alumni association student wing. Being IEEE Student Branch Secretary, I was also part of the effort that led us to be nominated for “Vibrant IEEE Branch Award” soon after our inception. From being high-school prefect to IEEE Event Coordinator, I cultivated and imbibed leadership and team-player skills, which I believe to be essential qualities to succeed in a research group. This, coupled with my immense passion and my knowledge of Virtuoso Design and Layout Environment and Cadence Tools will surely enable me to serve as a potential resource for the research program, where I am confident I can contribute to the development of realizable products and solutions. I hope it's atleast a little better.
  17. My aim is to pursue an MS in Analog and Mixed Signal VLSI. This is a general SOP I thought of. Your views and comments please! It all began with the electron. For me, that’s how it started. Not exactly an ardent lover of science, perennially associating with the numerous phylae I had to painstakingly memorize in high school, I was content with Hall and Knight’s math problems keeping me company. It took a combination of Ohm’s laws and Faraday’s magnetic personality for me to be bitten by the physics bug, and since then what lay between the covers of Resnick and Halliday was the be-all and end-all of my physics curriculum. Ever since, I’ve nursed an immense penchant for pursuing research in world-renowned organizations, witnessing for real the inherent magic of equations and creating. Innovating. When my first group science project, a drip irrigation system bagged the 3rd prize at the National Science Contest organized by the Department of Atomic Energy, I experienced the joy that spawns from lending wings to an idea- an inexplicable emotion words cannot explain. My passion for physics continued throughout high school, but as I looked around, technology was evolving at breakneck speed. The communication systems I had grown up with were being imbued with sophistication by the day, and there was a paradigm shift in the way we lived our lives. It was the by-product of a few curious minds incessantly at work that was setting benchmarks unimaginable once in time, a realisation that spurred me to ponder further the invaluable prospects of engineering research. Enter the transistor amplifier. Though it was a tiny shaft of light thrown on an ubiquitous analog device, what I read about the amplifier sealed my destiny. The idea that a piece of silicon could enhance audio levels spoke sheer genius to my impressionable 16-year old mind. The decision was made, and I soon found myself in the shoes of an electronics and communication engineer. As an undergraduate student my interests had infinite bandwidth, ranging the gamut from networking and communications to signals to cleaner, greener, renewable energy resources. However, once I was introduced to the world of control systems, the research tree I yearned to climb had found its roots. Integrating control system nuances with an amplifier’s intricacies possessed an underlying charm unbeknownst to me in any digital systems course. Then and there I decided this was my future. I wanted to be a part of this continuum, instead of just “sampling” it. In my entire Bachelor’s course I could never find the opportunity to work on projects in analog and mixed signal design, though, being an IEEE Student Member who took up the initiative to reinstate a dormant Student Branch College, I jumped at every opportunity to attend seminars and workshops that focused on research spotlights in the area. Perhaps the only brush I had with analog design was our participation in the Texas Instruments India Analog Design Contest, where students were asked to utilize a TI processor in building an industry-oriented application. So when I was selected for the 1-year internship at CONEXANT Systems following the completion of my Bachelor’s course, I was ecstatic to say the least. It was here that I enjoyed ten-fold exposure to analog and mixed signal circuit design, testing and layout. Our learning curve originated at building the basic current mirror, and as days progressed we played around with cascode and folded cascode current mirrors, bandgap reference circuits and open transconductance amplifiers in the Virtuoso Design Environment, simulating their behavior in Cadence. After getting acquainted with the design rule checks for the 65 nm process we worked in, we created basic layouts, modeling parasitics between various metal layers and examining how different kinds of layout extraction affected back-annotated specifications. From testing, comparing and optimizing existing architectures to meet design specifications in all worst-case corners, to testing and tweaking electro-static discharge circuits in order to meet a specified Human-Body Model, to trying our hand at building our own low-drop out regulators, amplifiers and other building blocks in various configurations, the internship was a remarkable experience that offered me everything and more than I could ever hope for. I found there to be a unique harmony resonant in translating a pole-zero response into a system that could record or playback audio, transfer speech or encode signals. It became incredibly evident what a pivotal role transistor sizing held in the analog design realm…..though miniature, a CMOS sure packs a punch. Analog design is endowed with a treasure-trove of literature, and for enthusiasts like me with thirst for unearthing this bottomless pit, it promises a life-long quest for learning and internalizing. Thanks to stalwarts like Jacob Baker, Li and Behzaad Razaavi, I “feel” analog design more….. than I learn it. With process technologies moving in the direction of higher packing densities and finer lithographic plates, the demand is on the rise for lower quiescent currents and operating voltages. This, together with my own fascination for energy conservation piqued my interest in low power CMOS design--- packing volumes in a wafer. Indubitably, my next step was the search for THE graduate studies centre for me, an analog design-centric program where I could make my life-long research dream come true. I found the Integrated Circuits program at ******* the perfect one for me, by virtue of the myriad academicians carrying out research in Analog, RF and Mixed Signal CMOS design, the extent of courses offered and the enormous industrial support. I have followed up on the extensive work carried out by the Integrated Circuits and Systems Group at ****, and with my experience with CAD tools together with my awareness of design and verification issues and industry requirements, I am confident I can contribute very effectively towards ongoing research and work towards developing realisable solutions.
  18. I am an Indian student interested in MS in electrical engineering in the US. Some details of my profile are as follows: 1. Percentage: 79.27%, GPA 3.2/4 as per my university guidelines for calculation and 3.51/4 as per US grading methods. 2.GRE Score: 1550/1600, TOEFL:116/120. 3. 1 year of work experience in a semiconductor MNC as an intern(by the time I join, I would have completed a year). 4.Won 2nd Prize in a national level essay-cum-presentation competition organized by the Department of Atomic Energy, India. 2nd Prize in National level Technical Writing Competition for Engineering students. 5. Besides these I have quite a few other academic and extra-curricular activites. 6. In addition, I'm trying for publications of two of my research papers (fingers crossed). Could you please let me know what my chances are in the following Uni's (field is relevant to my work experience): 1.University of Texas, Austin 2. UMichigan, Ann Arbor 3.Cornell University 4.Georgia Tech Thanks in advance!!
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