Graduate /
SOP for PhD in mechanical/industrial engineering [14]
Ok so I did manage to write my SOP in one page. I suppose I didnt have much to say after all :). I have posted the rough draft below. This draft is for Northeastern University and the research part will change a bit according to the schools i apply to but the crux would remain the same.
The number of fields to select as a career are enormous. To find that ideal field in today's world is like finding a needle in a haystack. However, for me it was always clear. I wanted to be a part of an industry that was an important part of every other business, and this is why I wanted to be a part of the manufacturing industry. From information technology to pharmaceutical sciences, if you had a product, manufacturing was a prominent part of your business. This is exactly the reason why I chose to get a Bachelor of Engineering in Production Engineering at D. J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Mumbai University.
Through my bachelors, I was able to learn different key aspects of production through subjects like Manufacturing Engineering, Production Management, Total Quality Management and Productivity Techniques. Apart from the theoretical knowledge, I gained invaluable practical knowledge through the internship at Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Ltd. I got the opportunity to work at the tool room at Godrej, one of Asia's leading tool rooms. During my tenure, I got hands on training in the industry, however, what caught my eye was the delays in a lot of projects due to lack of resource allocation, and improper time management leading to heavy loses. If this was the position of one of the leading manufacturing plants in Asia, there was a lot to be concerned about. With the western countries offloading majority of production orders to India and China, such loses could definitely not be tolerated.
This situation encouraged me to get my Master of Science in Engineering Management at Northeastern University. The rigorous curriculum at Northeastern enabled me to get knowledge about the core aspects of manufacturing. Through subjects like Operations Research, Engineering Project Management and Logistics, Warehousing & Scheduling, I was able to enhance my knowledge of the field. I even took up subjects like Economic Decision Making and Financial Management for Engineers so that I would be able to understand projects from a financial point of view as well.
Though my masters degree has given me a lot of information regarding project management and manufacturing, I would like to learn more and do research in the Just-in-time (JIT) strategy, and also Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II). I believe that these strategies and practices can prove crucial in reducing loses in companies like Godrej, and also in the Asian manufacturing industry. Through my research, I would like to reinstate the importance of JIT and MRP, which seems to be on a decline in this generation, and prove that these methods can prove critical in manufacturing. Prof. Surendra Gupta's research on these topics is something I am particularly looking forward to working on.
I truly enjoyed my time at Northeastern University as a masters student and would love to come back for a doctorate degree. I hope that you will give my application due consideration and humbly request the admission committee to consider my application for available financial assistance in the department. I hope to hear favorably from you soon.
