Statement of Purpose
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”- John Dewey
A quest for knowledge, a pragmatic approach and logical thinking are the driving forces behind every endeavour I undertake. The sound of airplanes during takeoff at a speed as high as 200mph, the vastness of the airplane and the desire to learn the principles behind the flight of the airplane as a kid, landed me in aerospace engineering. Initially joined with an urge to do something interesting, I realized that aeronautical engineering is brimming with opportunities. Specifically, the prospects within the structural and design space of aerospace engineering is what interests me. I would like to be involved in research ranging from the advancement in the use of composites to the development in 3D analysis software and from the design and systems engineering to the development of missions specific airplanes. A graduate degree from Cornell University will provide me with the requisite theoretical and practical framework to pursue a career in research and development in the fields of composites, structural mechanics, Computational Fluid Dynamics and other research fields related to Aircraft structures.
Since childhood, I have had an aptitude for mathematics, physics and logical reasoning and it is for this reason I have consistently fared well in my academics. In fact, during my undergraduate tenure, I have always managed to be among the top four students in my branch and my GPA has been on an upward trajectory with every passing semester. My liking and understanding of aircraft structures related subjects is reflected by my strong performance in these subjects. I have successfully managed to secure an A grade in Structural Mechanics, Flight Mechanics and Dynamics. Further I topped my class in subjects like Finite Element Methods, Computer Aided Design, Aircraft Structures, Fluid Mechanics and Computational Fluid Dynamics. My software skills are equally developed as my theoretical knowledge, which is evident by my grades in practical exams as they have never gone below ‘A’ grade in Structures, Propulsion and Ansys lab.
From the time I joined the undergraduate program, I have made numerous efforts to think out of the box to develop a firm hold and command over the subjects I have been studying. Enthusiastic to do something apart from the normal syllabus and course material, I was among the group of three people who took part in Wright Design competition held at IIT Madras during their technical festival named Shaastra. We received a certificate for successfully completing the task of building and demonstrating an unpowered glider with a single control surface. This was the first ever batch of students from aerospace engineering branch from our college to take part in a national level competition and complete it successfully.
Based on my academics, my strong grounding in aerospace and my enthusiasm, I was selected to be a part of Team AeroMIT – the official Manipal University team to take part in SAE AeroDesign event held Atlanta, Georgia, US in April 2011. I was a part of the five student team who represented MIT Manipal at an international stage for the first time ever. We were ranked 29th among the 75 participating teams from around the globe. Along with another colleague, I was given the responsibility to complete the NASA Systems Engineering report as a part of a parallel competition at the same event. We were ranked among the top five teams and received a critical appreciation from NASA for our Systems Engineering report.
As a part of the competition, a few registered students were permitted to visit LOCKHEED MARTIN to see the assembly line of planes like the F-22 and C-130Js. Our entire team got a chance to go on this tour and see how an industry actually comes up with the technology to manufacture and gather different aircraft parts from a number of companies all over the globe and bring it under one roof. It is then that the actual assembly of the high performance aircraft is done which is then ready to take off and carry out its intended mission. This tour helped us to learn a number of manufacture related skills like assimilation of different parts, strength analysis, fault detection if any and structural integrity testing.
On the basis of my performance in the completion of the entire project, I was made the Head of Propulsion and Landing gear subsystems for the second season of AeroMIT which competed at Van Nuys, California in March 2012.I had a team of four students to work on extracting maximum thrust from the given 10cc engine, manufacture a strong and light landing gear and assemble it on the main airframe. We successfully managed to better our performance from the previous years and secured 19th spot and came 3rd in the presentation round- best ever performance by an Indian team. I also worked as liaison between the technical and management team to make sure the there was a perfect coordination in the team.
To gain a deeper understanding of how an aerospace industry works, I underwent an industrial visit in December 2010 at Taneja Aviation Aerospace Ltd. (TAAL) Bangalore where subjects of study included aerodynamics and structures of airplanes and a full assembly-disassembly of a Cesna aircraft was demonstrated. Further I also worked as a trainee in the Components Overhaul Division (COD) in Air India for a span of 30 days in June 2011 where I worked in different sections like wheels, brakes, cabin pressurization and composites division. I was lucky enough to actually participate in real world Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) of components of Boeing- 777.
With a deep interest in structures of aircrafts, a fair knowledge of simulation software like CATIA, ANSYS and FLUENT, and academics to support my nomination, I am currently selected for an internship by IAESTE IndiaMIT at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium. I was selected by a panel of professors in my college based on my CV and confirmed by the faculty in-charge at Belgium among a set of 80 students who applied for the same offer. This is a Computational Fluid Dynamics internship where my job is to carry out simulations on different structures and study their behaviour in fluids. This internship is a part of my 8th semester project and shall last for 18 weeks from January to May 2013.
Besides excelling in academics, I have always made efforts to involve myself in sports or other extra-curricular activities to sharpen my mind and improve my concentration. Being an ardent lover of sports, I enjoy playing Cricket, Soccer and Badminton in my free time. I was a part of inter-school and inter-college Table-Tennis team and represented the institutions in various tournaments at state-level. Apart from sports, I possess a fondness towards music and dance and perform on stage whenever given a chance to do so. My interest in adventure sports in evident from my membership in REDX adventure club of MIT Manipal and my participation in a number of summer and military camps during school days. Owing to my leadership qualities, I was elected as the class representative and am still continuing as one for three years in a row now. As the CR, my job is to act as a mediator between the faculty and students, and participate in Student Council and Student Welfare meetings in my college. I intend to continue participating in student activities with the same level of fervour at Cornell.
An over inquisitive mind, an urge to learn and research, dedication to work hard and firm determination to succeed in my goals are the tools I wish to utilize to achieve the target that I have in mind. A visit to the graduate school website of Cornell gave me an insight of the coursework that I shall go through if enrolled as a student at Cornell. Among those, working in the field of materials and structures I would get a chance to learn topics including mechanical behaviour of materials, nano-scale applications, material processing, plasticity, computational and experimental fracture mechanics, shape sensitivity analysis and shape optimization under a highly knowledgeable pool of professors including Prof. Matthew Miller, Prof. Paul Dawson, Prof. Subrata Mukherjee, Prof. Shefford Baker and a few more. The ongoing research in the area of composite materials and in the field of CFD relates to my field of study and it would be an honor to be part of the same.
Admission in the aerospace program at Cornell University would not only enhance my chances to strengthen my hold over the subject and allow me to use that knowledge professionally but also would be the ideal stepping stone to launch my career. I sincerely hope to get a chance to be a part of Fall 2013 incoming class at Cornell University and pursue my Masters in Aerospace Engineering to develop my skills and enhance my knowledge as an aerospace engineer. I look forward to a positive reply.
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