"involved in research projects" - PhD for Petroleum Engineering SOP

Two field trips during my undergraduate study were particularly impressive because they helped me to decide to advance to graduate school. I visited a tunnel construction site which was being excavated under the Han River by the shield Tunnel Boring Machine. I was fascinated by the massiveness of the machineries and the accuracy of the construction process. A field trip to the preliminary test site of a geothermal power plant played a key role in confirming the broad applicability of rock mechanics and its promising future.

Entering graduate school, I joined the Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering Laboratory. I studied the theory of elasticity and its application to fluid flow with porous media in the Advanced Rock Mechanics class. I was able to deal with problems for underground radioactive waste repositories such as the long-term stability of the facilities and thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of rock through the Waste Disposal Engineering in Underground Rock Mass class. Also, I was involved in research projects. This experience allowed me to improve skills in carrying out numerical analyses and interpersonal relationships by collaboration with other laboratory members.

I realized that the field of rock mechanics captured my interest. At the same time I felt a strong desire to study abroad. I am currently interested in studying thermo-mechanical and hydro-mechanical processes in geological media. It requires skills to develop analytical and mathematical solutions, apply suitable numerical methods to model, and verify result with experimental tests. This research has extensive applications, including enhancement of oil recovery by hydrofracturing, monitoring microseismicity and surface subsidence, geological disposal of nuclear waste and sequestration of CO2, and enhanced geothermal system.

The Ph.D. program at the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University XXX would be an excellent chance for me to purse a Ph. D. degree because professor YYY and I share a same interest in rock mechanics which is directly applicable to petroleum engineering fields. After attending a special seminar by ZZZ, who graduated your institution, about what he learned and what he is doing now as a geomechanics engineer and consultant, I have been eager to join the research group of professor YYY. I would love to have the opportunity to do research with him. After the completion of my degree, I would like to be a competent researcher to contribute in academic and industrial areas. Admission to the Ph. D. program at your institution would be a significant step towards my goals.

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feel free to give your advice :)
Thank you in advance for sharing your time for me.

Very good. Your SOP letter is good, especially the last paragraph. However, I think it would be much better, if you mentioned to your GPA.

still very short. as you are going for PhD .. i think u should express more interests and write more paragraphs

In that first paragraph, you gave a sentence about each of the trips, but you should add a thesis statement to the end of that paragraph so that the reader will continue to read with a clear idea of the message you are sending with the essay. Sum the essay up in a sentence, and tack that sentence on to the end of the first paragraph. :-)