Hi all,
I would thank any opinions or advices on my Statement of Purpose. I would like to enter the High Performance Computing M.Sc. at the University of Edinburgh.
Thanks all,
Gabriel.
My interest for computers began with Linux when I was a 16. After a day of reading about the Slackware distribution I installed my first server at my father's office and then began learning how to configure the different network services and how computers work. At the same time at school I learned Visual Basic and Visual C, subjects in which I wrote many programs. I also improved my English and studied German and French.
Having a B.Sc. in Physics helped me a lot to develop my analytical skills and gave me a mathematical and physical way of seeing life. After finishing my career studies I did some basic research which I enjoyed a lot because of the freedom one has to propose ideas and because I had the chance to develop a program with Fortran that calculated ionic charge states when the firsts pass through the solar atmosphere during solar flares events. Such work was presented in international congresses like the International Cosmic Ray Conference and the American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, in a refereed journal and in my dissertation work.
I also entered a graduate program in economic theory which I am in process of finishing. Since then I have had the desire to simulate economical systems since I perceive that most of the forecast is done using econometrics rather than with numerical methods which I believe should be applied directly on the economic theory.
During the last year I worked as a Java Junior Developer in an IT Consulting Firm in Mexico City, STO Consulting a rapid growth enterprise. It was satisfactory that I was promoted quickly from trainee to junior programmer. My responsibilities as developer were to create new software functionalities for one of the company's products and give customer support. The application I worked with, STOFactura, is a web portal that generates electronic bills according to the local fiscal law and it comprises the use of Java, PHP, Javascript, XML and MySQL using the MVC pattern.
For the past 6 months I have been taking a course on Saturdays to present the Oracle certification exam as a Java Developer. I intend to continue working this year to further develop my abilities and knowledge in the field. My goal for the next year is to interact more with the part of software design and development and in the long term, become a software architect.
The reason of why I choose the HPC Master is because I would love to work with big computer clusters and develop parallel and distributed codes. My final professional objective if I get to enter into your program is to design software to simulate physical and/or economical phenomena. The visualization part of these events is a theme that calls me strongly and I would like to become a CUDA developer as well.
I also read your programme's handbook and I realized that given the subjects and the duration of the courses, this program is perfect for me because it will let me absorb the knowledge I require to work with big multi-core computers such as Cray or IBM, gain a methodology to develop software that needs parallel and distributed processing, learn the basics of project leading and re-insert myself into the professional life in a short time. I am convinced that my previous experience in physics, economics and software development along with my interests and ambitions will let me take advantage of all the opportunities EPCC offers. Having the opportunity to study the M.Sc. at the University of Edinburgh would be a huge step forward in my career.
My interest in computers began with Linux when I was a 16.
After a day of reading about the Slackware distribution, I installed my first...
Having a B.Sc. in Physics helped me a lot to develop my analytical skills and taught me a mathematical and physical way of seeing life.
After finishing my career studies I did some basic research which I enjoyed a lot because of the freedom one has to propose ideas, and because I had the chance to develop a program with Fortran that calculated ionic charge states when they firsts pass through the solar atmosphere during solar flares events.---This sentence is kind of long, you might want to break it into two sentences.
I also entered a graduate program in economic theory which I am in the process of finishing.
My goal for the next year is to interact more with the part of software design and development and in the long term, become a software architect.
The reason of why I choose the HPC Master is because I would love to work with big computer clusters and develop parallel and distributed codes.
Your essay is great, they'll be lucky to have you as a student!
:)
Sorry, missed some changes. Here it goes again.
I have always been interested in computers. At the age of 16, I was able to install a Linux server with the Slackware distribution, configure the different network services and have a pretty good understanding of how computers work. At the same time I wrote many programs using Visual Basic and Visual C, subjects I learned at school. I also speak fluently English, French and German.
I obtained a B.Sc. in Physics from the Autonomous University of Puebla which helped me a lot to develop my analytical skills. After completing my degree courses I did basic research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). As part of my research I proposed a general equation for the electronic charge interchange model I worked with. Using Fortran, I developed a program that calculated the charge states of ions passing through the solar atmosphere during solar flares events. Such work was presented in the International Cosmic Ray Conference, the American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, the Committee on Space Research Scientific Assembly, in a refereed journal and was defended as my B.Sc. dissertation work.
Next, I entered a Graduate Program in Economic Theory at the UNAM which I am in process of completing. Since then, I have had the desire to simulate economical systems for I perceive that most of the forecasts are done using econometrics rather than numerical methods, which I believe should be applied directly on the economic theory.
During the last year, I worked as a Java Junior Developer in an IT Consulting Firm in Mexico City, STO Consulting, a rapid growth enterprise. It was satisfactory that I was promoted quickly from trainee to junior programmer. My responsibilities as developer were to create new software functionalities for one of the company's products and give customer support. My most important client was a nation-wide radio company, Grupo ACIR. The application I worked with, STOFactura, is a web portal that generates electronic bills according to the local fiscal law. It comprises the use of Java, PHP, Javascript, XML and MySQL using the MVC pattern.
For the past 6 months, I have been taking a course to present the Oracle certification exam as a Java Developer. I intend to continue working this year to further develop my abilities and knowledge in the field. My goal for the next year is to interact more with the part of software design and development and, in the long term, become a software architect.
My professional objective, if I get to enter your program, is to design software that simulates and aids the visualization of physical and/or economical phenomena. I would like to use CUDA and other environments for these purposes.
I realized that, given its programme's structure, the High Performance Computing M.Sc. is perfect for me. It will allow me to acquire the knowledge I require to work with large multi-core computers such as Cray or IBM, gain a methodology to develop software that needs parallel and distributed processing, learn the basics of project leading, and re-insert myself into the professional life in a short time. I am convinced that my previous experience in physics, economics and software development, along with my interests and ambitions, will let me take full advantage of all the opportunities EPCC offers. Having the opportunity to study the HPC M.Sc. at the University of Edinburgh would be a huge step forward in my career.
I am writing the PERSONAL STATEMENT too, but I feel confused the beginning.
I have always been interested in computers.
Aviles, it seems that your statement lack the beginning as your first sentence straight to the point. I wonder if it is ok?
Hi ekekek,
commenting with one of my friends who is a graduate from Cambridge, he told me to get straight to the point rather than using a story type introduction. I guess I chose to follow his advice. Hope that helps.
Gabriel.
Gabriel,
Thanks for your answer~~
Because of the limited time for a professor to read a piece of essay, straight to the point sounds reasonable.
Hope you could get an offer from Edinburgh~~
Good luck~~
^0^
Katie
