My Statement of Purpose: Mechanical Engineering

According to projected job employment in the year, 2018, mechanical engineering will have an estimated quarter of a million jobs nationwide. This is an increase of roughly 6% between 2008 and 2018. As the need for better, more economical necessities, a need for mechanical engineers will always be on the uplift. Many mechanical engineers “research, design, develop, manufacture, and test tools, engines, machines, and other mechanical devices.” (Bureau, 4). This branch, within the engineering field,

While at Missouri University of Science and Technology, I will be getting my major in mechanical engineering. With a mechanical engineering degree, I hope to someday qualify to become a professional engineer and work at a company like Boeing to design different parts used in planes, trains, and automobiles. I am content with my decision to major in mechanical engineering and feel like it is a good fit for me because it coincides with my many interests, abilities, and personality.

Humans have a natural tendency to feel attraction towards mystery. When I was a kid, Machines were mysterious to me, to be completely forthright, it is as yet the same. Whenever I visited my grandfather’s machine shop then, those lifeless-creatures always enchanted me. In fact, my adolescence was surely brimming with doing all the fun things, at least to me. Splitting a toy, then dismantling its motors, later use them to make a water boat-electric fan was my regular activity. Since machines had lured me all my life, it was an obvious decision to choose mechanical engineering as my future endeavor. Now, after completing graduation from the Islamic University of Technology, a top-tier (OIC-Affiliate) and only international University of Bangladesh, I would like to pursue a career accomplishing a Ph.D. in the field of “Mechanical Engineering” as an ardent Mechanical Engineer. My personal interest, academic performance, brief exposure to research, professional experience and inquisitiveness led me to believe that it would not only allow me to expand my knowledge but also would give me the opportunity to obtain my eventual objective of taking up a research-oriented career in the field of mechanical engineering.

Starting from the first steam engine, Aeolipile to today’s Mars rover, the transcendental pervasion of mechanical engineering has shaped the life on this planet as we know it today. This progress seems never ending as the new technologies are engendering ever new complex challenges. Therefore, merging of fundamental research with real world applications is demanding now more than ever. As a student of Mechanical Engineering, I am well aware of these facts and have decided to pursue an active career in cutting edge research. I am strongly motivated to undertake graduate studies in order to pursue an MS in Mechanical Engineering, which, I believe, will prepare me for my further study at the doctoral level.

Technology - application of practical science, driven by need. When people want to change, they usually turn first to the strategy of innovation. But what separates engineers from mere innovators is the ability to discriminate the importance of sustainable technological solutions for the future. My ability to be proactive in this matter makes me stand apart. In addition to finding out how a machine operates, I’ve always been interested in design aspects and monitoring the incipient faults occurring within machines. This urge has strengthened my ability to recognize the scope for improvement and also motivated me to look beyond the conventional functionalities of any machine.

Engineering is the creative application of scientific principles to design/develop a product or a process. Thus the vast majority of products we commonly use in day to day living have been designed by an engineer, probably even the seat you are sat in right now. The field of engineering is near limitless and this is why I feel engineering is the subject for me, as there is always a tougher challenge.

Frankly, my family always encouraged me to become a doctor at the hospital, so I grew up having the dream of joining the Medicine School to fulfill my family’s ambition which I thought it was mine too. In grade 10, I was studying at night and suddenly the electricity went off and that made me think what if I am a doctor doing a life-and-death surgery for a patient and the power goes out. I thought about energy recourses and other medical equipment the doctors use, who made them? I started thinking that I can provide more services than doctors do. I can design and produce items that all use and provide reliable and sustainable energy for us all. From that night, I decided to study an engineering-related discipline, and upon completing high school and after consulting a Mechanical Engineering graduate who explicitly explained to me what mechanical Engineering is all about, I found that Mechanical Engineering is the best choice among the engineering fields.

The excellent undergraduate program at MREC has not only provided me with strong mechanical engineering fundamentals, but also helped me widen my horizons in the various different fields. During my under graduation I was introduced to many subjects where I found my interest in courses such as engineering mechanics, production technology ,material science and laboratory subjects always have a major impact on my academic growth. I learned CAD, PRO-e, and C-LANGUAGE software’s. I completed my under graduation with

“The first and simplest emotion we discover in the human mind is curiosity”. And this aptly applies to my childhood too. It made me question every other thing I come in contact with. In addition, this inquisitiveness helped me garner in-depth knowledge about subjects in school. I was more inclined towards practical or hands-on experience rather than mere classroom learning. My interest in logically oriented subjects like maths, statistics and science propelled me to take up science as a major in college. I was of the belief that if you want to excel in a particular field, you need have to practical experience for better understanding of the pros and cons of that filed. This attitude not only contributed to my high grades in schooling and college, but also helped me gain a stronghold over the concepts of applied sciences.

(Just an example…….The Paris Climate Accord of limiting rise of global to 2 degree C strikes fear and inspire my desire to contribute to this effort in my ambition as a Mechanical engineer.) Lhe serious demand of clean sustainable energy has led to inventions such as Tesla electrical cars which are on par performance-wise with petrol-powered vehicles in addition to their immense scale down on harmful emissions. This is the aspiration that all engineers need to have, which is the desire to create something more versatile and closer to that of an ideal device.

Mathematics and physics are the main subjects involved in engineering and they have made the course even more interesting to me. I am looking forward to apply the concepts that I have learned from these subjects and I can certainly jump deeper into the world of physics and mathematics by attaining a degree in mechanical engineering. As the learning

“Learning makes a man fit company for him”. This maxim impressed me right from my childhood days to learn something new each day, learn, learn and relearn until the end. My decision to apply for MS in mechanical engineering has emerged, both from my passion for research and my aspiration to understand the concepts of engineering. MS in Mechanical Engineering can provide me with the platform to further improve and ultimately refine my knowledge and skills in my areas of interest. Right from my childhood, when I started understanding little things I have been fascinated with the world of the machines that made life easier. My passion for mechanical engineering only grew with time as I kept on finding out about how things function around us like bikes, cars, and machinery etc. I believe the MS program from your esteemed university is pivotal for me as quality, knowledge and impeccable guidance will mold me to be in the learning mode all my life, opening the way for constant growth as a person and a professional. So I wanted to become an engineer and satisfy my inquisitive nature. This keen enthusiasm made to opt for a career in this field.

I am Nileshkumar Luhar. Discovering and understanding how certain mechanical products work have attracted my attention for the longest time. I have been watching TV show named How It’s Made on the Discovery Channel since last six years. Seeing the manner in which the machineries and cars are built and the various processes involved instilled desire in me to be part of the whole process. I felt that Engineering would be the area, which would give me the opportunity to learn and explore how the fundamentals of science are applied to create technology for practical and real purposes. This coupled with a natural flair for science and mathematics motivated me to take up Mechanical Engineering in University.

As a high school student I was bright, ambitious and one of the most enthusiastic students in my school. After being diagnosed with pilocytic astrocytoma, a benign brain tumor at the age of 18, I had to opt out of my school. I underwent an 8 hour long invasive surgery followed by 3 months of radiation therapy and rigorous physiotherapy sessions. During the treatment, I met with many people who had met similar fate but wanted to lead a normal life just like me. After a year with the god’s grace, ingenious doctors, family support and my new found will, I was diagnosed completely free of the tumor. I told myself that miracles do happen and promised myself that I will make this count. After facing difficulties with my right hand, I began writing with my left hand and passed 12th grade with distinction.

It was the first day of the new semester. Dr. Razzaque, the professor giving the introductory lecture of his fluid mechanics course, decided to start with an audacious statement. “If you think mechanical engineering is too broad in scope for your liking, remember, you have seen nothing yet.” Aware that he had the class’s attention, he went on, “Think about what you have learned so far. You have taken courses in physics, multivariable calculus, electric circuits, computer programming and so on. It will be some time before you will properly understand how all these elements come together, but when you do, you will probably be surprised by your own understanding of the world.” He then went on to explain, citing Formula One, computational fluid dynamics and biomimetics, how mechanical engineering brings very diverse skill sets together. Those words felt, at the time, like a key to making sense of the plethora of courses that was my college life. Dr. Razzaque had suddenly made me realize the relevance of what I was learning. It would prove to be a pivotal point in my academic life. That lecture, and the following course, renewed my passion for mechanical engineering. I joined Dr. Hasan’s lab a year later as an undergraduate researcher and now I aspire to pursue graduate studies in mechanical engineering. All of these can be traced back to that quiet spring morning more than two years ago.