Why Graduate School and Why this university ??

[Rojan977]

“With a set of interconnected nodes and branches with changeable weights and a learning algorithm, you can design an intelligent self-learning system” said my lecturer in Artificial Neural Network. That statement made me introspect myself. After three years into electrical engineering I found my ‘Eureka’ moment and my goal for life. I signed up for the course and as the course progressed, I explored more on the applications of the Neural Networks and Intelligent Systems which encouraged me to work much sincerely towards my objectives. At the end of the semester, I was able to write a paper on Face recognition, which was my first publication in college journal.

 

In college, Engineering Mathematics was my major interest and I was intrigued to find out how major engineering problems use mathematical models and techniques to reach to solution. I wanted to see mathematics solving out engineering problems and got my first chance during the 3^rd semester while working on a project on Artificial Tank Game using C++. I devised two-dimensional model for problem and the algorithm worked well for intelligent operation of tank. The project work was selected as one of the best project work and it helped me learn how mathematical approach to problem is essential to design an intelligent system.

 

During the third year, I worked on a project of Innovation Lab to develop an autonomous chess playing robot using Microbot Teachmover. We designed the sensor board but, it was a challenge to make the robot arm exactly fetch the pieces to make its move. Based on the past experience, I approached the problem based on Polar co-ordinate system and 2-D Cartesian co-ordinate system and the model devised worked perfectly for the robot. The project made my interest on mathematical modeling & control system more prominent.

 

With all the projects and activities I was involved, I was still able to maintain good grades in the class and such activities proved fruitful when I was offered to work on the UGC funded research project as my final year project under the supervision of Prof. Indraman Tamrakar. In this project, we designed new form of Electronic Load Controller (ELC) and mathematically analyzed our proposed form of ELC with previous form of ELC. I am currently working as a research assistant on the same project and my interest & knowledge on research activities only strengthened more and I learned more about the power electronics, power system, renewable energy sources and control system. While working on this project, I realized that I could merge my knowledge in power and control with my newly found interest in Neural Network and carry on further research on intelligent control and operation of Power System. More importantly, my skills on MATLAB Simulation and programming, writing papers and presenting one’s ideas increased during this project, which will be valuable tools for my success in graduate studies.

 

With just an undergraduate degree, few undergrad level projects and a single research project, I personally feel I cannot be a better scholar and an independent motivated researcher I aspire to be. So, I want to pursue graduate degree leading to Ph.D in order to dedicate myself to research activities and develop myself as a competitive academic or full-fledged research professional.

 

Experience during the college days on various projects and as the research assistant on the ELC project equipped me with qualities required to be successful in graduate school. My experience of working both singly and as part of team has equipped me with both individual research skill and team skill. My three years tenure as class representative has provided me proper skills to communicate with people and my experience as chief editor in Departmental Journal provided me a valuable skill to analyze papers and convey ideas in written form. All these experiences have helped to shape up my personality. As a graduate student, I will not only enhance specific potential of your department, but also enrich cultural diversity in the University.

 

The xxxxxxx Laboratory at xxxxx University provides the best opportunity to research in Neural Networks and their application in smart operation of Power Grid. The ongoing research on Smart Power Grid and Neural Network Application on Smart Grid under the guidance of Professor xxxx coheres to my research interests. His areas of work are of great interest to me and I believe that I can prove to be an effective and reliable team member in carrying out cutting edge research in this domain. Using the knowledge available from the work achieved in the lab so far I am sure that I can contribute to the activities that will be carried out in the Lab during my tenure as research assistant.