Graduate / Data Science, Parallel Computing; SOP- M.E Computational Science&Eng [3]

Statement of Purpose - M.E. Computational Science and Engineering

Rajkumar Conjeevaram Mohan
BSc (Hons) Computer Information Systems (First Class Honors Degree)
University of Liverpool - 2013

As an undergraduate student, I was exposed to wide range of subjects in Computer Science, and focused more on modules that involved complex programming, networking, different encryption algorithms, etc. Although programming is my favorite, I enjoyed not just programming, but even engineering applications, sharing ideas with group mates and Professors by maintaining a cordial relationship with everyone, taking leadership in group projects and contributing innovative plans that help reach the target, etc. My interest to do post-graduation began when I started to see world-class innovations that have influenced millions of lives - Google search engine, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Blood Simulators, Autopilot, etc., because I have a strong feeling that just an undergraduate degree would be insufficient to get a deep insight on such areas. The degree program at Liverpool has endowed me with moderate knowledge in wide spectrum of subjects in this field, qualifying me to pursue either PhD or Post-graduation in their University with Liverpool attainment scholarship for having maintained 'A' grade on all consecutive years. Since my only ambition was to do Masters at Harvard, I happen to hesitate the attainment scholarship issued by the University and job opportunities I had in the UK.

In first semester of first year, in all Mobile Computing coursework, I didn't stem my work with a sense that "I've completed what the program intends to do", instead accomplished beyond the requirement, considering this as a precious opportunity to ameliorate my knowledge. In Mobile computing, I have created several applications (Tic Tac Toe game, Notes Browser, and TimeTable) for coursework using several techniques in cocoa framework - NSOperation, Web Services, Map routing, etc. A notable coursework of this module is NotesBrowser, which utilizes a JSON file that carries information about all modules with their corresponding links to lecture notes to enable application to download the lecture notes, and make them available offline. The key feature of this assignment was to use the NSOperation appropriately, limiting the number of simultaneous downloads, without compromising the performance of the main thread.

I worked on couple of group projects in module "Robotics and Autonomous System", which was my most favorite module of my senior year, since unlike other modules this module involved hands-on work, which galvanized me to program the robot, observe its behavior with respect to my instructions, and made debugging way more interesting. This assignment includes creating map for the given arena, instructing robot to travel throughout the arena, avoiding obstacle with the help of its Ultrasonic and Touch sensors, marking the specific grid on map for obstacle as it finds while traveling, border identification, and return to its initial grid where it started off. I took the leadership in this group assignment, engineering the very foundation of the program, while others gave their support in configuring the sensors, calibrating the wheels, and endowing me with valuable suggestions that helped me make important decisions.

The second assignment of the same module includes an agent program (Jason) that communicates with Java, and retrieves information about the patients (colored paper assumed as patients, each color representing priority) placed on the arena, appends the patient detail to the Jason list and later prioritize them by their color prior to output. Despite the fact that I've no background in agent programming, nor been given a lecture about it, I've strived to employ agent programming, which is analogous to "Prolog", to accomplish the second group project. Holistically, this module was interesting in a way that caused me to probe my knowledge on that subject, and make best use of all the resources the University provided. In addition to that module, I took Multi-agent systems module in my second semester in which I learned how to let the robot cooperate, coordinate, negotiate with other robots, agent reasoning, revising belief, goal and intention, BDI agent and even famous game theory concepts - Nash Equilibrium, Mixed strategy, etc., waxing my knowledge in Robotics.

Although I'm motivated towards research project, I didn't want to do research until I start studying at post-graduation level, so I chose Problem-solving project "Big Wave Alert System" as my final year project, and worked under the supervision of Professor xxx and Dr. xxx. This project is about creating an application that collects seismic information from a National Agency server, and alerts the subscribers via e-mail when seismic activity has been detected for the subscriber's location (i.e., latitude and longitude). By working on this project, I have expanded my proficiency that are considered vital in this field - time management, organization, presentation; developed substantial practical knowledge in several techniques - running optimized query, preventing data redundancy and inconsistency, etc.; and programming notions such as - PHP, Perl, Advanced JavaScript, Oracle PL/SQL, Object-Oriented Programming in Database to improve the performance of the database. In addition to the requirement, I designed a user-friendly interface similar to Metro UI by Microsoft, with an included functionality of providing visual representation of weather information in a line graph by the help of the weather data provided by wunderground weather service, etc. For implementation, and demonstration of this project, I received excellent feedbacks from the Supervisors, and A+ grade.

The valuable suggestions, and information given by my project supervisors also played a vital role in the perception of hidden complexities in handling large data. Being driven by the strong fascination I'd on this project, I worked with activeness, sparing time to handle other modules as well, and with all my efforts I've scored A in all components of this project.

Since I received my degree only at the end of July 2013, I left UK on August leaving me only 3 months time to prepare for the GRE. The honest reason for low mark in GRE is I was unable to maintain proper pace in the test to answer all the questions. Although I was able to get the correct answers, due to limited practice in answering questions quickly, I was unable to answer all the questions within the given time. Due to my current situation, I am even unable to retake the GRE exam - I depend on the Bank Loan for half of the tuition fee and the Bank requires the co-applicant (my father) of the loan to have employment service for at least one year whereas my father's service is only for the next one and half year. So, a year delay in applying for University would literally disqualify me for loan. Supporting documents could be provided, if required.

My area of interest alongside wide range of modules covered in my undergraduate serves as a background to the program M.E. Computer Science that includes Data Science, Parallel Computing, etc. I have the strongest belief that I have the ability to bring leading innovation in this field, adding more esteem to your esteemed University. I am also certain that my application to Harvard is the only best way to reach my ambition, and would regard not just as a great honor but also as a great responsibility and an obligation to put my best in graduate studies at your esteemed University.