statement of intent

[Tumisang]

I plan to apply for a scholarship and it is required that I submit a statement of intent. 

May you please help me by critiquing my statement of intent. It is below.

 

Statement of Grant Purpose

, Lesotho, Data Science

Congestion Prediction

Utilization of scientific principles to create order where there is none, elegance and charm of statistical frameworks have from when I encountered them fascinated me. Applications of statistical analyses today are limitless; ranging from medicine to economics. Few areas of my education incite as much interest as deriving meaning from data. Writing code that exposes relationships between data points and of late assigning probability of future events resulting from data mining imparts an incessant feeling of exhilaration and excitement onto me.

Programming, statistics, and mathematics propel my desire to advance my postgraduate with a degree in data science.  Data scientists are predicted to be sought after professionals in the future. It is pre-requisite that scientists be conversant with mathematical principles to solve problems. The Internet of Things ensued exponential growth of data, this rendered some purely mathematical problem-solving techniques inadequate. This void is filled with principles of data analytics. Data mining methodologies are being applied to find trends and interpretations that are beneficial in many facets of human knowledge like banking and health.

I am currently employed as a lecturer at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) lecturing mathematics, statistics and programming modules; modules that are critical in my desired course. I graduated MTech Information Technology with a distinction from the Central University of Technology (CUT). My research trained me to be analytical of presented data sublimating only what is important. As a member of the Faculty Curriculum Committee; I gained insight on creating and implementing strategic plans. As a member of the Faculty Examination Committee, I learned to align goals and procedures.

Data mining needs individuals who can effectively communicate and function well in a team. While studying at LUCT, I was selected as one of the Limkokwing Ambassadors. This group is responsible for representing the Institution when the need arises. I am a good leader; this was verified when awarded The Limkokwing Award for Leadership. The award is bestowed to students who show clear leadership qualities and academic excellence. I am a founding student member of Africa Research Unit on Informatics for Drought, a research unit dedicated to the advancement of research and development of relevant and sustainable ICT tools for predicting and mitigating Africa’s droughts.

I have professional and personal goals. I desire to be independent, thus need to obtain training to develop marketable skills that will make me competitive and marketable. My largest challenge is financial constraints. If I get this scholarship, my responsibility will then be to learn as much as possible to be a good data analyst.  I also aspire to attain a Ph.D. at a younger age than my father did, this I believe will make him even prouder of me. My personal goals relate to family. I want to put myself in a position where I am able to provide for my wife and child; providing for all that they need and hopefully want.  Another personal goal is to be a role model to as many individuals as possible. My final personal goal is to remain healthy so I can achieve all my other goals.    

STATEMENT OF GRANT PURPOSE

, Lesotho, Data Science

Congestion Prediction

 

My first experience with research was during my undergraduate and honed during my postgraduate throughout which I concentrated on the creation of smart traffic lights. The source of this interest came after I realized that there is usually heightened vehicular congestion at signaled traffic lights vis-à-vis non-signaled. I came to hypothesize that the design of lights could be the source of congestion.

This observation bore my research question; which was, “can traffic signal’s efficiency and effectiveness be improved?”.  In reviewed literature, I learned that congestion is not a problem only for Maseru but a global issue that is increasing socio-economic challenges throughout the world. I read ample publications on congestion; the biggest challenge was an absence of data on African cities. For Lesotho, I concluded that current data collection and storage methods employed in government agencies could be better performed as the data could not be provided to me for multitude reasons. 

The literature showed that many solutions are already implemented in first world countries. The solutions are not easily applicable to some African cities like Maseru due to an array of factors relating to insufficient finances. My task was to then look for an African solution to a global challenge. Using data, and experiments I was able to provide a solution that would best-fit cities like Maseru. One of the results of this research was publishing an article “Ubiquitous Traffic Management with Fuzzy Logic - Case study of Maseru, Lesotho”.

My current goal is to delve into city-wide congestion prediction and mitigation.  There is a lot of research in traffic prediction with many authors presenting divergent solutions.  I propose to have traffic infrastructure look for and learn from patterns hence be able to predict then “decide” the best course of action. I am of the opinion that I can achieve this with skills taught in data mining courses. The successful completion of a masters in data science would result in my second qualification at the same level. I believe that a masters in data science would give in-depth knowledge, making me a more competitive Ph.D. applicant. The desire behind studying data science is that my research would be better fulfilled with skills acquired by data analyses. Correspondence with multiple scholars led me to believe that my research and solution rely heavily on knowledge of computer learning; a core course in data science. Data science and IT are divergent courses, the former relates to “discovery of meaningful patterns from data” while the latter responds to “design and engineering of information systems through the study of human/computer interaction”.

Three reasons lead me to believe I am deserving of this scholarship. I am a persistent worker as I give the most to tasks I set out to achieve. Second, I am unique, my train of thought is unique thus making me creative which facilitates me to push boundaries.  Lastly, I love learning, this scholarship will afford me the opportunity to meet new people thus learn more about other cultures and traditions. If selected for this scholarship, I will continue to apply the same diligence to my studies as I have to this point, making positive actions and academic excellence my top priorities. I will represent your organization meritoriously during my studies.

 

Edited February 8, 2018 by Tumisang