Even before my undergraduate career the concept of 'Shock Waves' has always intrigued me. The idea of bodies travelling faster than speed of sound, the change of properties across the shock waves fascinated me. My first encounter of the term 'Supersonic' and 'Hypersonic' was when I came across NASA's X-43A during my High School. The idea of scramjet engine, especially, was something that triggered me that interest. Since then I was determined to understand the fundamentals of aerodynamics to pursue a career in Aerospace research.
I finished my 12th class with an overall 85% (scoring 96.5% in physics and mathematics). I was placed among top 3000 of 130,000 odd students in state level entrance examination for undergraduate study. The result of this was that I was able to start my undergraduate education at xxx, one of the prestigious institutions of India. There was no dearth of academic and extracurricular activities at xxx. In addition to the regular curriculum, there were workshops and competitions organised by various student groups, so that students could learn from each other as they compete. During my first year I had the privilege of being actively involved in different student organisations such as mountaineering club, music club and quiz club, I even had a chance to perform in some musical events. I met students from various parts of the country, and got to learn their way of life. I learned many new skills from them, and in turn, shared with them all that I knew.
My initial foray into aerodynamics was when I attended a seminar on 'Wright design' during my third semester. The seminar helped me answer some of the fundamental questions on aerodynamics which motivated me to join SAE aero design team. We had an opportunity to participate in the SAE regular event held in Atlanta, 2012. I had the privilege of being involved in design, fabrication and also financial aspects of the team. One of the best experiences I ever had during my undergraduation was fabricating the aircraft. With the motivation and help offered by the SAE team and faculty, I was able get an initiation and direction on understanding aerodynamics. 'Fundamentals of Aerodynamics' by John Anderson was one book which laid a perfect foundation in me.
In this process I was introduced to Computational Fluid Dynamics. The idea of solving complicated fluid flow equations numerically fascinated me. I learned to appreciate mathematics to a greater level when I came across concepts like grid generation, shock capturing methods etc. My initial approach to explore the field of computational fluid dynamics was to solve simple flow equations like convection equation, diffusion equation etc., using finite difference method analytically and later programme it on python. By obtaining the solution of the discretized equations through coding I was able to understand the behaviour of the partial differential equations computationally thereby understanding the physics behind the flow. Since aerodynamics was not a part of my curriculum I had to learn and understand each and every concept on my own. Doing this made me face a lot of questions and trying to answer some of them helped me expand my understanding in subjects like Linear algebra, Vector Calculus etc.
I got the real "taste" of engineering during my second year summer vacations, when I got an internship on vehicle maintenance at the Geedee Naidu institute, Coimbatore. My main objective was to understand different mechanisms used in components of a vehicle such as IC Engines, Radial engine, automatic and manual gear system, turbo chargers, brakes and differentials by dismantling it completely. Working with all the mechanisms was inspiring and being a Mechanical engineering student I felt having accomplished something.
During the sixth semester my college gave me and my project team an opportunity to work on a project wherein we had to restore and calibrate our wind tunnels. Our college has two wind tunnels (blower and suction type) which were not in good shape. Initially we had to check if the rotor and the propeller were in good condition and once that test was conducted, we theoretically determined the mass flow rate and other parameters of the rotor using turbo machine analysis. After obtaining the data we were able to build our own Pitot tube required for our wind tunnel using Prandtl design for Pitot tube. For this project we had the opportunity to visit the transonic and subsonic wind tunnel facility at the National Aerospace Laboratories and gained a lot of information and guidance on measuring instruments for calibrating our wind tunnels. With the help of our guide and other professors we were able to calibrate the wind tunnel. Although we weren't able to perform any experiments in the wind tunnel we were successful in restoring and fixing all the measuring instruments to the wind tunnel .This project helped me to get a brief understanding on experimental aerodynamics. The course on CFD during my sixth semester provided me a great understanding on finite volume method and different schemes like Central, Upwind and HYBRID which would later help me in my final year project.
After this project I got an opportunity to do an internship at the Aeronautical Development Establishment of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in aerodynamics department. There I had the opportunity to work with people who actually design planes for the Indian defence. My main objective was to study the aerodynamic characteristics of different wings and airfoils using Xflr5. Even though my stay at DRDO was very brief it gave me a chance to understand how the planes are actually designed and analyzed in real time applications. With the help and guidance from the scientists at the facility I was able to clarify many of my doubts and have a better understanding on grid generation, control systems of an aircraft. Overall I got to a brief view on how an Aerospace research facility functions.
Currently I am working on the xxx as a part of my Final year project. Me and my Project team are developing a xxx and compare the results obtained by analyzing the xxx on xxx. We initially trying to implement different test cases like xxx, xxx etc on both xxx and xxx. The main objective of this project is to implement different xxx schemes such as xxx, xxx, xxx etc for the study of xxx. I am also hoping to publish a review paper at the CFD society of Canada.
Ever since I joined Mechanical Engineering my goal of pursuing masters in aerospace has never varied and subjects like Thermodynamics, Fluid mechanics, Heat and Mass transfer, Turbo Machines have rekindled my desire to pursue my goals. I realized that a bachelor's degree is not sufficient to understand the concepts of aerodynamics and computational fluid dynamics completely. My ultimate goal in life is to put my fundamental knowledge into complete use and develop an innovative breakthrough in Aerospace Research.
I've extensively read, with great interest, about the research work done at the xxx Research Laboratory and I am very inspired by Professor xxx's work on xxx at the facility. If given an opportunity it would be an honour to study under Professor xxx. I believe that I have the talent and the necessary skills to perform such projects at your prestigious university. I would be very grateful if you could provide me an opportunity to be a part of such creative endeavours and gain more understanding in the chosen field. This would help me fulfil my goal of Graduate Education.
Overall, I find this is a good SOP. The only thing I find missing is that you do not adequately talk about your future goals and how this program would help you achieve them. I have noticed many students do not talk about that, but it is important for the admission officers to know how seriously you think about making use of your higher studies to achieve your goals.
Hello,
A few things missing from this SOP. You do not talk about your future goals in this industry, what do you want to do with this degree once you graduate? This leads directly into the other aspect of your application that is lacking, you do not talk about how this particular program will help you. Other than this one professor, how will the resources available at this school help you achieve your future goals?-Admissions Advice Online
