Growing up and working on infrastructure projects in a metropolitan city like Mumbai, I have witnessed the mayhem which engulfs the transportation sector. A perennially burgeoning population and a rapidly growing middle class are placing an additional burden on an already saturated transport network. As the city and the country moves along its growth trajectory, the transportation network is amongst the first issues to reckon with. In this regard, the federal and state governments have gradually committed substantial resources to overhaul the transportation network within cities as well as connect the different nerve centres (i.e. cities) within the country. The plan for a new infrastructure development plan for the country from 2015 onwards has been tabled; the product of this will be numerous projects being floated.
Hence, there is mandate for a systematic and innovative approach to supplementing the existing network as well as reducing the load on the overburdened networks. I would like to pursue my Master Degree in Transportation Engineering from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign(UIUC) to consolidate my knowledge of pavement construction and to develop another division within our infrastructure development firm, working as consultants in the field of transportation planning. This division would capitalize on a spate of opportunities in the transportation sector by bidding for lucrative government projects. However, prior to returning to my family concern, I intend to work in the transportation sector in a developed country, for a couple of years, so that I learn the requirements for a successful transport network and apply those principles in my company.
The undergraduate education provided me with a formal insight into the theoretical approach and the practical applications of Civil Engineering. Transportation Engineering and Environmental Engineering were my focus area which were introduced from the 5th semester onwards. I excelled in my electives in the final year by scoring 80% in “Traffic Planning and Design” in the 7th semester and 89.33% in “Pavement Design and Construction” in the 8th semester, thereby standing 1st in the University for this subject. As part of my senior thesis “Project Planning & Management of a Construction Project”, I undertook the role of a Project Management Consultant whereby I understood the importance of a systematic approach to project planning, which is one of the prerequisites of a transport moduler.
In addition, as I pride myself on staying ahead of the competition through my undergraduate tenure, I took the opportunity to learn various software packages including the HDM-4, Cube Base and Cube Voyager as these packages not only provided a powerful system for the analysis of road management and investment alternatives but also enforced my knowledge of the four basic steps of Urban Transportation Planning System: Trip Generation, Trip Distribution, Modal Choice and Route Assignment. The understanding of the Cube and applying the same on an extra-curricular project which was carried out during the senior year, under the guidance of my transport engineering Professor Dr. Prabhat Shrivastava, a global transport planning consultant, will provide me with an edge in absorbing the finer nuances of transport planning during graduate school.
Upon graduation, I decided to join my family’s construction company, which offers turnkey services to governmental agencies in the areas of bituminous pavement construction, building anti-sea erosion bunds along the shores, laying of sewer pipelines, etc. I got formally inducted into the family business on a part-time basis at the age of 17 and have since then carried out various activities including surveying work, understanding and executing designs provided to us and getting certifications from government laboratories for the materials that we use in the project.
Since the past three months, I have spent a sizeable amount of time working on both the technical and financial aspects of tenders for pavement development projects. Along with that, I have carried out upgradation of our available human and machine resources inorder to be equipped for the impending working season. I have completed a study of our previous works with regards to bituminous pavements and have inferenced a plan of action for the next pavement project, taking into account the axle load repetitions, aggregate selection and its proportioning and the corresponding stretch of work, so as to ensure precision in our work and optimization of our resources.
While the past four years working in my family concern was enlightening and necessary, I have realized that I need to pursue further education to expand the services offered by our company. A graduate education from UIUCwould provide me with the perfect steppingstone to achieve my career goal of creating unprecedented progress for my family business. My grandfather, who started from scratch, laid the foundation for our company; it was consolidated by my father who brought about management, efficiency and profitability to our company. In my endeavour to put my company on a national pedestal, I see no better college than UIUCto help me realize these goals.
The courses such as Geometric Design of Roads, Advancement Pavement design, Pavement Evaluation and Rehab, Advanced Bituminous Materials would give me a deeper insight about the requirements of pavement design, its construction and maintenance. Dr. Jeffery Roesler's research interests in concrete pavement design and its analysis, fatigue and fracture of concrete, continuously reinforced concrete pavements, accelerated pavement testing of PCC and fibrous concrete appeal to me. Courses such as Traffic Flow Modeling and Simulation, Transportation System Analysis, etc. will introduce me to the latest application of Transportation Planning and its management using statistical analysis. The excellent facilities available at the Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Laboratory (ATREL) with regards to modelling, traffic operations laboratory, material testing and accelerated pavement testing would help me hone my theoretical knowledge. I look forward to working with Rahim F. Benekohal and Professor Yangfeng Ouyang in conjunction with my desired areas of interests.
I am confident that my dedication towards transportation engineering as well as my background qualifies me as an ideal candidate for the prestigious Transportation Engineering program and I look forward to being part of the Fall 2010 student body.
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