Undergraduate /
SOP-M.S/PhD Research , Computer Science - Review [3]
Dear Friends and Reviewers,
Kindly review my SOP which is available below. I am planning to apply for Fall 2012.
I would appreciated your help.
Thanks & Regards,
Arun
--------------------------------------
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Program Applied: - <to be filled while applying universities>
Excellence in any sphere of life can be achieved through determination and perseverance. These are the driving forces that initiate a goal directed activity and bring fruitful results. It is in the context that I would like to pursue my higher studies which not only supplements the knowledge that I possess but also provides strong foundation to my future career. I strongly believe that a graduate education can offer a great deal of intellectual and personal satisfaction and challenge. After carefully considering my aptitude, interests, academic background, my ultimate professional ambition and industrial working experience in cutting edge technologies, which is to pursue a research career. I feel that Graduate studies in Computer Science will help me realize this objective. My interest in the network technologies, coupled with my technical background has driven me to pursue graduation study in Computer engineering specializing Network Systems, either as a teaching faculty member, or in an R & D department of the industry. My strong aspiration to work on the frontiers of scientific research impelled me to apply for Graduate Studies in your university. I have the full confidence that I will be successful both as a graduate student and also as a researcher and a teacher. With this confidence, I present my statement of purpose in terms of my background, interests and experiences.
My strong inclination towards Mathematics and science goes back to my school days. My interests were never bound to what was taught in the classrooms. I always wanted to appreciate and understand the application of concepts in books. My interests combined with hard work translated into good results. I secured 92.8% in my Higher Secondary examinations with 99% in Mathematics and Physical Sciences. I was successful in the TNPCEE and was among the top 1% of the 200, 000 candidates who had written the examination. This paved way to study in the Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology program offered by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (DCSE) of the prestigious College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) which is the premier engineering institution in Anna University. CEG is ranked among the top ten engineering institutions in India by various magazines' ranking.
In the DCSE, the competition is of the highest order and level. The challenging environment has served as a stimulus to bring out the best in me. The excellent course structure coupled with high academic standard further stimulated my interest in scientific pursuit. In my undergraduate courses, I have always adopted a rigorous approach in order to attain an in-depth understanding of the subject at hand. This has given me a broad conceptual basis, which, I believe, is essential for any research career. My grades in all the courses are good. More importantly I have shown great interest in subjects like Computer Architecture, Operating Systems, Systems Programming and TCP/IP. I have also undergone courses like Telecommunication Switching Techniques and Telecommunication Systems wherein I have scored Grade A.
My undergraduate courses have been gripping and interesting. Even though I was introduced to a plethora of topics spanning the various domains of Computer Science, over the past couple of semesters, I have developed a great liking for Computer Networks; specifically problems in areas like protocol design, congestion control and protocol optimizations are the ones which interested me the most. I was always fascinated by the intricacies and complexities of its realms. This eventually made propensity towards Networks and Telecommunication Systems. My choice of electives such as "Network Processing and Programming, and Mobile Computing reflect this. "Network Processing and Programming" course dealts with the packet processing functions of Network Processors and the architecture of two Network Processors, namely IXP1200 and IXP2400. For this course, I had done a project on IXP2400 to solve the NACK (Negative Acknowledgement) implosion problem in a reliable multicast environment. My algorithm involved selective dropping of NACK packets at the intermediate nodes in a multicasting environment.
The B.Tech course at CEG includes an independent research and a thesis submission. My penchant for Networks made me choose Networks as the domain for my thesis work. During the course of my thesis work, I learnt many new network architectures like Active Networks. I found this architecture to be pertinent to solve a number of problems associated with video streaming. I (along with my project mates) devised an adaptive video streaming model based on this architecture. Our solution provides a video stream that will adapt its quality dynamically (at the intermediate active nodes instead of at the server) based on the client systems' capabilities. We also proposed solutions for solving problems like "Capsule Fragmentation" which is inherent in this network architecture. Our project was done on a platform called ANTS, used to simulate Active Networks. The project work was carried out under the guidance of Prof. K.S. EaswaraKumar, DCSE, CEG, Anna University. We got promising results from our project. We had submitted a short paper titled "Improving Multicasting using Active Networks" at IADIS conference on Applied Computing, Spain in 2006. Our submission has been accepted.
Having been subjected to the rigor of my B.Tech course, it wasn't a very difficult task for me to crack some of the toughest placement processes. Though I had got offers from various companies, I wanted to associate my career with telecommunication systems. This lead me to join 'Aricent' - a Communications Software company (formerly Hughes Software Systems), as a software engineer. My stint at Aricent helped me to understand the process involved in building an application. I also developed an ability to provide solutions to problems under challenging situations, while meeting sharp deadlines. During my stint at Aricent, I was exposed to the real world challenges in the field of telecom and its applications and during this period, I evolved more on the professional circuit by taking up important assignments and finishing them on time.
During the first year of my employment, I worked for developing a software for managing and controlling different 'Base Stations'. I am able to infer how ideas are built one over the other and subsequently, I began to learn new technologies and their attributes. After successful completion of my first assignment, I was part of the team that developed software for our client Aircell, which provides internet connection at above 35000 feet from the sea level. The desire for Wireless Communications was given a boost. Exposures to various technologies in telecommunication stimulated my passion on computer networks further more.
It was the time, when I got an opportunity to work with Nokia Siemens Networks projects at Aricent, in core wireless protocol development as well as micro-code development in network processors. I started realizing that, the "Network Processing and Programming" course which I had studied during my undergraduate program was very helpful in easily understanding the "Agere APP" network processor architecture. The application of this knowledge earned me good reputation from peers and NSN client and got an opportunity to work onsite with NSN, Finland on a work visa for about 1 year duration. This was the period; I started realizing my research dreams, by developing "IPSec" feature in the existing system. After successful completion of this task, I was completely involved in research activity to develop a framework which would provide a simulation platform for generating and analyzing network data packets in an automated environment.
By doing research, I realized the importance of having well-perceived automated framework to generate and analyze the traffic data in order to verify the functionality of Agere APP micro-code. This lead to the development of a prototype unit called "Traffic Generator (TG) Unit, to solve the purpose of traffic generation and to overcome the limitation of ADTECH Hardware availability. This proposal was accepted by NSN which boosted my confidence in research. During the execution phase of the project, I was awarded 'SNAP award' for the commitment and contributions, I made towards the integration of this automated framework with various network elements. At work, I rely heavily on interpersonal skills I developed during my years of study at CEG through various organizational and leadership roles.
Even after stepping into the industry, learning fundamental concepts in academia has always attracted me. My seer interest in research, stimulated me to publish a paper titled "Experimental Evaluation of AeroTP protocol in Airborn Sensor Networks" in IJCSNS, International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, held on Sep 2011. And another paper titled "Enhancing Routing Information Protocol based on Triggered Updates" also got selected in the same conference event.
Having acquired sufficient exposure to the software industry, I would now like to get into "Systems" research which can change industry practices I have always attempted to gain insight into the problem at hand and tackle it from different angles. I am well aware that a career in research calls for personal commitment and personal sacrifice of time, leisure and immediate reward. However, my desire to realize my full potential and to make an original contribution to the field of Computer Science drive me to pursue a research career, which, I believe, will give me intellectual satisfaction, gratification of becoming a contributor to knowledge and personal rewards of learning and discovery. I not only possess the intellectual ability, sound preparation and the strong motivation for research but also consider myself mature, friendly to work with and open to criticism: qualities essential for group research.
I believe that a symbiotic relationship between the student and his department is of utmost importance for a successful graduate program. Considering the pioneering work going on at your department in areas like sensor networks and mobile routing, which is the field of my interest, your department is an ideal choice for an exciting research career. This is exactly the kind of place where I want to pursue my research. At the same time, I am confident of contributing originally to the ongoing work at your department. By working under the guidance of distinguished faculty at your department, I am sure; I will be able to exploit my potential to the fullest.
I enjoy teaching and although I have no formal experience, my naturally strong communication skills will help me considerably. I envisage myself as a teacher and researcher - either in industry or in the university. I definitely see myself in the role of a teacher to undergraduates. In fact, that's something I would enjoy immensely. I would be fully dependent on aid to finance my graduate studies. If I am granted an assistantship, then given my long term goals, a research assistantship would be an ideal experience for me. I have already mentioned my interest in research.
