To make India independent of fossil fuels; Motivational letter for Masters in Renewable Energy

"I can either watch it happen, or be a part of it."

-Elon Musk

Hailing from a country which is the world's third largest emitter of CO2 and has consistently faced power shortage, I have watched several governmental policies trying ineffectively to make India independent of fossil fuels. Starting my basic education in India, I have seen and been a part of sustainability societies that work towards making everyday life of people more environment friendly. Exposure to such an environment has instilled a deep sense of purpose and desire to be a part of energy engineering society, to make the world a better place to live. My goal is to make clean energy accessible to every small village and city in the world. This interest of mine led me to specialize in Microelectronics while pursuing my Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from Asia's leading university, National University of Singapore.

Upon graduating I started my career as a Field Service Engineer in waste water treatment and environmental services. Here I witnessed the fast growing innovations occurring in the process water management sector. Same can be said about energy engineering, especially in the solar sector. Despite taking online courses from Lund University and Harvard University about sustainable energy management and solar energy, I have realized that to be able to make a significantly positive impact in the energy sector requires more than just the basics. The thirst for knowledge and the desire to grow the energy sector sustainably has reinforced my decision to enroll in the master's course at your university.

Currently working as Field Service Engineer, I am consulting several petroleum refining companies with COGEN project, a project aimed to reduce the dependency on grid generated power. An idea proposed by my team implemented the usage of natural gas pipeline and CNG for electricity generation and transportation instead of Gasoline, the most commonly used fuel in Singapore. The data analysis I performed showed a faster return of investment and lower mitigation cost for Natural gas, while reducing the CO2 emission by 30% annually. By being the consultant for COGEN project has helped the grasp the importance and urgency of shifting from fossil fuels to alternative fuel.

A comprehensive view of renewable energy is my educational goal. My final year dissertation project at NUS involved depositing monolayers of neurotransmitters on the surface of Silicon wafers. As a way of this project I have developed a deep interest in research and in the future, I would like to study the mechanism and effectiveness of depositing Graphene monolayers on solar cells.

I did my senior secondary schooling from Oman, a country heavily dependent on oil for its energy production. Having lived in the Middle East and South East Asia, I see a large potential for renewable energy that is not being tapped into. With the right king of research, renewable energy sector can be grown to a large extent.

My 5-year goal upon graduation is to set up a company that is capable of providing engineering consultation and services in every renewable energy sector. I believe this can be possible with the course offered by your university which has a perfect mix of entrepreneurial and technical engineering courses. This renewable energy future is not far or un-achievable. With hard work and determination and the right kind of support, such potential can be tapped into. With a world divided because of oil, renewable energy is the way to peace and sustainability, and I would like to be a part of it.

Malavika, I am not sure how the quote of Elon Musk relates to your motivation to pursue a masters in Renewable Energy. Unless you can tie in that quote to something personal about your desire to become a renewable energy expert, the quote doesn't really make sense. While the rest of your essay is really interesting, it would be nice if you could include a part about why you were motivated to enroll at this particular university. In a motivational letter, you are expected to show a semblance of how studying at the university has served to motivate you to reach for a higher level of academic learning. Look into the masters program of the university and deliver at least a paragraph long explanation of how the university curriculum or training program has helped to further motivate your desire to learn how to help your country through the use of alternative energy.

Speaking of alternative energy, I believe that you should add a summation of the existing problems in energy that your country has, aside from the ineffective government rules, that have motivated you to pursue this course. For example, you can explain a particular problem in energy resources or something related to your course that you hope to develop a better understanding of in order to better deal with the situation back home.

Another thing that you can do to help you further improve your letter is read the instructions the university provides for the content of an applicants motivational letter. What specific information does the university look for? Maybe some special student abilities or traits are required of the applicants. It does not sound to me like you consulted the university website or application packet before you wrote this letter. So you have to double check the requirements and make sure that your essay properly represents the reviewer's expectations in order to create a better chance of writing a supportive motivational letter.