Graduate / Essay on Master studies in BioMechanical Design at the TU Delft [3]

Hello everybody!

I'm writing an essay, which is one of admission requirements for the TU Delft. In this essay one should answer severl questions:

My name is MS, I am 22 years old and come from Warsaw, Poland. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Automation and Robotics at the Technical University of Warsaw where I studied from 2009 to 2013 at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering

I chos to study Automation and Robotics for two reasons. My first is that during my schooling Physics used to be one of my favourite subjects. Grade in it was considered important for my desiered fields of study(my other choices were Mechatronics and Electrical Engineering). My class in highschool was french-biology oriented but, as I already wanted to focus on learning physcis and mathematics, I attended tutoriums in those two subjects.

Second, Automation and Robotics is, like Mechatronics, an interdisciplinary field of study. I think that choosing one's study cannot only depend on one's inetrest but also on what the person is good at. Even though I already knew that I wanted to become an engineer, I was uncertain which domain would fit me the best. These studies gave me an inestimable chance to learn the basics of electrical engineering, mechanics, programming, control theory, electronics and data transmission so I could discover which of them interested me the most. The two domains, Automation and Robotics, are closely related to each other and it is necessary to have knowledge in both areas in order to work in one of them. Nevertheless, one always has a preference and in my case, it turned out to be Robotics, as I prefer studying subjects like Mechanics and Electronics.

Both of my parents, as well as few other members of my family are doctors. Even though I never really considered studying medicine, I find this domain very interesting and due to conversations led at home. I am also up-to-date on the most important issues of contemporary medicine.

I mention this because even before I started my studies I knew I wanted to help other people through my career, just like my father and every other doctor. A domain that associates Robotics and Medicine are Orthotics and Prosthetics. It is my great wish and objective to work in this field in the future. In order to construct an artificial limb one must not only have skills in Engineering but should also understand the human body, particulary the nervous system. I am, of course, a long way from being able to work in this industry. However, after having read the program of BioMechanical Design, I am certain that studying at your Faculty would be a strong first step towards realizing this dream.

Why don't I want to study in Poland? Before all, I am strongly willing to study in English. The reasons for it are obvious, English is an internationally used language and therefore, I want to be familiar with its technical nomenclature. I studied in Germany for a year which is, in contrast to my country of origin, an extremely industrialized country(most industrialized country in Europe). I find it highly useful to speak German as an engineer, and I am fluent in the language. Nevertheless, I am sure that in most of the companies in Europe and around the world, English is the most spoken language. Especially because such countries as Korea, Japan and the United States are strong in the domain robotics.

In my country the choice of studies in English is limited, and no university offers a Master's program that would be as close to my interests as the one you propose.

Furthermore, I consider international experience be very important nowadays. Because most of the largest robotis companies are based outside of Europe, cooperation with foreign countries is essential, as it is in all of the industries.

As an adult, I also want to start living on my own and be independent from my parents. Decidedly, they are always there to support me, especially during the time of my education but I want to contribute to covering the costs of my own living. There are few job offers for students in Warsaw and the earnings for those jobs are often insufficient to cover costs of living on one's own. I know that in West European countries, is is easier for full-time students to find part-time or casual employment to support their expenses without harming their education.

The Master's programs in Poland take only three semesters, including only six weeks of an obligatory internship and thesis project. As I find practical knowledge highly important, I think that duration of studies is too short. In the Netherlands, all of the programs that I find interesting are laid out for a standard full-time study period of four semesters and they contain a semester dedicated for an internship. I find both- internship and thesis project- to be crucial for getting sufficient knowledge in a particular domain. Furthermore, they are inestimable for one's future career, as they provide first-hand professional experience; theses in particular can be completed by working for a copmany.

During my studies I found when I worked intesively on a few subjects or tasks, I achieved better results than when I worked on multiple, but less extensive ones. I base this statement on my Eramus experience. While studying at the TU Berlin, I picked up five subjects per semester and was able to get good or very good grades in most of them, even though they were all taught in German. My thesis project is a good example as well. Thanks to the large amount of time I could and did dedicate to it, I was able to complete and defend it for the best grade.

Additionally, the fact that examinations take place several times a year in the Netherlands attracts me a lot, it would give me an opportunity to arrange my time more reasonably.

The primary motivation behind my selection of TU Delft is that it is a world-class university. Therefore studying there would be a great chance for me. I believe that such studies are indispensable for my future development and would benefit me throughout my life. Additionally, your university offers the BMD program, which perfectly matches my interests and wishes for a track of studies. I spent my whole life living in big cities, so when I came to the Netherlands for the first time, I was charmed by its narrow houses and canals, cosy cafes and thousands of bikes. Life in Delft, just like in every other student town, looks completely different from Warsaw or Berlin. It is vibrant, but everybody's everyday routine revolves around reaching for knowledge. As I took part in the Athens Programme in November I got to know a few people from the Netherlands. They all seemed to be very friendly and well educated. I would love to find myself among such ambitious, young people.

From the proposed specialisations, I would choose BioRobotics because it is concentrated on the design and control of robots. This is also the topic that I would probably like to explore in my thesis project.

Nowadays, robots are no longer solely used for manufacturig and interacting with humans, but are also replacing humans in multiple tasks. Moreover, they can replace parts of the human body. Therefore, they are widely used for medical purposes and likely to soon become a larger part of our society. As engineers involved with medicine consider the human brain a contol system, simulations and the control of robots is presently an important, forward-looking domain. Robots not only have to cope with Biology but also adapt to it. I believe that engineers working in this domain are also simultaneously scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs, able to invent and solve problems.

If I were given a free choice, I would like my future thesis project to be a practical one. As I already mentioned, I find that control theory and the interaction between human's brains and robots are interesting and very important topics. On the other hand, I find myself excelling more in strictly mechanical tasks. It is not easy to find a topic that covers both design and construction that is not too vast for a Master's thesis. A thesis topic I would propose could be, for instance, "Designing and building a hand-movement training device" or "Mechanical design of a back-driveable tobot for measuring and manipulating pelvic motion".

The aim of my bachelor thesis was to build a set of power supplies for a laboratory stand with a DC motor that serves for investigating its characteristic curves. It is supposed to be used for didactic purposes at the Warsaw University of Technology. The three power supplies generate three output voltages. All three of them are adjustable up to 80V. The topology of the set of power supplies I chose is based on linear regulation. The reasons of this choice were: low noises level, fluent regulation and quick response to changes of load.

As my thesis project consisted also of a theoretical part, it required a large amount of time to complete. It took me around 8 weeks to coplete it. I chose a practical project because I wanted it to be my frist approach towards electronics. I'm glad I did so because I learned not only a lot about the topic itself, but also about how to deal with practical tasks in the future.

The bachelor thesis is worth 15 credits. I was graded with a "5" for both thesis project and the defense. My overall performance in the studies was rated as "very good".

Besides Engineering, I would find myself well-off studying Linguistics. Nevertheless, I found that even though i truly enjoy learning languages, I do not have to study to imporve in this particular field of interest. On the contrary, broadening knowledge in the field of Engineering and gaining a solid theoretical background requires studying at a technical university. Moreover, I think that an engineer's work is much more interesting and diverse. Not to mention that nowadays there are many job opportunities for engineers. I define languages only as a tool, though it is an important one to possess.

However, during the last semester of my studies in Automation and Robotics I also studied French Teaching. The main reason for it was to recover the contact with the language and studying a language at a university provides one a better background than a simple language course. I earned 26,5 credits.

At this time I am waiting for acceptance for Master's studies of Computational Engineering Sciences at the TU Berlin. The lectures start in the middle of April. The contents of this study are similar to those of the BMD, but it is not exactly the track I want to pursue. I am also searching for an internship over there.