rishabhkarwa
Nov 2, 2016
Graduate / "A man's reach should exceed his grasp" - Essay for Masters in Architectural Engineering [3]
"A man's reach should exceed his grasp"
This quote from a poem of Robert Browning has shaped my life in different ways and taught me to reach for things beyond my grasp, to explore and not to be intimidated.
My father being an architect, I was always exposed to plethora of architectural and town planning books/magazines and creative building concepts since childhood. This exposure and my tryst with fine arts planted a seed of fascination in my young mind which would grow to shape up my career choices. Excelling in the Common Entrance Test, I chose to pursue graduation in Civil Engineering from College of Engineering, Pune, one of the top engineering colleges in India.
In my second year of my engineering, I was introduced to the subjects of Building Design and Drawing. I devoured the basics of building design through the studios and gained proficiency in software such as AutoCAD and 3D Max. Studying building design inspired me to learn more about architectural and aesthetic aspects of construction. In the following summer, I interned at a real estate firm based in my hometown, working as a project manager on a seven storey building, understanding the practical and managerial aspects of construction. I opted to be the graphic design head at our college's technical event Mindspark, the biggest technical event in the city of Pune. This experience developed my creative skills and made me proficient in software such as Photoshop and Corel Draw.
Next summer, I interned at Shirke Group of Companies, one of the oldest and biggest real estate firms in India. I worked on an affordable housing project consisting of 22 eleven storey buildings. New to the concept of aluminum formwork, I studied its structural intricacies in depth and made myself accustomed to the technology. Frequent visits to the company plant of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete blocks, I gained complete knowledge of the manufacturing process of the blocks and their benefits over traditional clay bricks. This internship was imperative in building my confidence in handling on site complications.
With an aim of studying urban and architectural design, I worked on a thesis project based on study of Development Control Rules in Pune, one of the biggest cities in India during my final year if engineering. The project consisted of redevelopment of 25,000 sq. meters of dilapidated structures using Cluster Approach. I studied all the Development Control Rules in the district of Pune and researched on various redevelopment and slum rehabilitation projects across India. The project included surveying, landscaping and architectural designing of entire area. It also included complete planning of redevelopment as a builder and maintaining profitability by proper cost analysis. This project improved my skills in urban planning, surveying, rate analysis and designing on AutoCAD.
After finishing my undergraduate studies, had the opportunity to work for Lodha Group, the biggest private real estate developer in India. At Lodha Group, I worked on the World Towers Project in Mumbai, which will be the tallest residential building in the world once completed. I worked as a site engineer handling the interior finishing and façade work in co-ordination with Armani Casa and VersaceHome, two renowned interior designing firms working with Lodha. I handled various aspects of interior designing and finishing such as flooring, water proofing, dry wall installation, painting, etc working on technical inspections and micro planning. I also was in charge of fixing and technical inspections of Aluminum composite panels (ACP) and double glass units which made up the façade of the building. Working on the biggest skyscraper in India also exposed me to various new concepts such as transfer structures, lean monitoring, jump forms, etc. Exposure to the high-end interior finishing and designing work at the World Towers with very low levels of tolerance trained me to work with perfection and proper technique.
I also worked at the Lodha New Cuffe Parade, one of Mumbai's biggest horizontally and vertically spanning projects consisting of 12 forty five storey towers and the biggest club house in Asia. I worked on completion of three floors of post tensioned basement area. My work included structural and quality inspections, planning of pours and checking of post tensioning of strands. I gained significant knowledge about concreting by being a part of concreting of pours as huge as 1800 cubic meter. After completion of the basement area, I worked on one of the 45 storey towers. As a site engineer, I dealt with technical inspections, concreting, micro planning and ensuring the quality of construction. Working at the Lodha Group gave me tremendous on-site exposure, technical knowledge of new technologies and strengthened my interest in architectural and design aspects of construction.
Witnessing my dad lead our family business of construction, I always dreamt of being an entrepreneur. With an aim of exploring entrepreneurship, learning new skills and starting a business of my own, I pounced on the first opportunity I had to be an entrepreneur and started GoMechanic with three other co-founders. GoMechanic is a start up in the field of Car Servicing and Repair aimed at disrupting the $22 billion after sales servicing industry in India. GoMechanic aims at partnering with Tier-2 garages and providing quality assurance, technology enabled operations and centralized procurement of spares aimed at revolutionizing the customer experience. As of September, GoMechanic has over 800 unique transactions, Gross Merchandise Value of INR 3 million and Annual Maintenance Contract with more than 300 taxis. From handling operations to business development, from designing products to planning the architecture for website and apps; it has led to my overall growth. My stint at GoMechanic has been an eye opening experience for me. Understanding the difficulties and challenges faced in starting up your own business being bootstrapped at the same time has made me grow as a person, engineer and as an entrepreneur.
As I am at a new crossroad in my career, I plan to work in designing and constructing sustainable building systems. Studying Architectural Engineering at Purdue will help me in polishing the technical knowledge I have garnered at Lodha Group and give me an unassailable experience.I would like to pursue research under the supervision Prof. A. Tzempelikos at the state-of-the-art façade engineering lab as specialized knowledge in façade is a rare skill to acquire. I am also fascinated with the idea of studying effects of manipulation in lighting, acoustics, etc, on human comfort and performance at the Center for High Performance Building. I want to be a part of the engineering department's vision of amplifying its impact on the society through the knowledge and education of its students and contribute in all possible ways.
Thank you for considering my application.
"A man's reach should exceed his grasp"
This quote from a poem of Robert Browning has shaped my life in different ways and taught me to reach for things beyond my grasp, to explore and not to be intimidated.
My father being an architect, I was always exposed to plethora of architectural and town planning books/magazines and creative building concepts since childhood. This exposure and my tryst with fine arts planted a seed of fascination in my young mind which would grow to shape up my career choices. Excelling in the Common Entrance Test, I chose to pursue graduation in Civil Engineering from College of Engineering, Pune, one of the top engineering colleges in India.
In my second year of my engineering, I was introduced to the subjects of Building Design and Drawing. I devoured the basics of building design through the studios and gained proficiency in software such as AutoCAD and 3D Max. Studying building design inspired me to learn more about architectural and aesthetic aspects of construction. In the following summer, I interned at a real estate firm based in my hometown, working as a project manager on a seven storey building, understanding the practical and managerial aspects of construction. I opted to be the graphic design head at our college's technical event Mindspark, the biggest technical event in the city of Pune. This experience developed my creative skills and made me proficient in software such as Photoshop and Corel Draw.
Next summer, I interned at Shirke Group of Companies, one of the oldest and biggest real estate firms in India. I worked on an affordable housing project consisting of 22 eleven storey buildings. New to the concept of aluminum formwork, I studied its structural intricacies in depth and made myself accustomed to the technology. Frequent visits to the company plant of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete blocks, I gained complete knowledge of the manufacturing process of the blocks and their benefits over traditional clay bricks. This internship was imperative in building my confidence in handling on site complications.
With an aim of studying urban and architectural design, I worked on a thesis project based on study of Development Control Rules in Pune, one of the biggest cities in India during my final year if engineering. The project consisted of redevelopment of 25,000 sq. meters of dilapidated structures using Cluster Approach. I studied all the Development Control Rules in the district of Pune and researched on various redevelopment and slum rehabilitation projects across India. The project included surveying, landscaping and architectural designing of entire area. It also included complete planning of redevelopment as a builder and maintaining profitability by proper cost analysis. This project improved my skills in urban planning, surveying, rate analysis and designing on AutoCAD.
After finishing my undergraduate studies, had the opportunity to work for Lodha Group, the biggest private real estate developer in India. At Lodha Group, I worked on the World Towers Project in Mumbai, which will be the tallest residential building in the world once completed. I worked as a site engineer handling the interior finishing and façade work in co-ordination with Armani Casa and VersaceHome, two renowned interior designing firms working with Lodha. I handled various aspects of interior designing and finishing such as flooring, water proofing, dry wall installation, painting, etc working on technical inspections and micro planning. I also was in charge of fixing and technical inspections of Aluminum composite panels (ACP) and double glass units which made up the façade of the building. Working on the biggest skyscraper in India also exposed me to various new concepts such as transfer structures, lean monitoring, jump forms, etc. Exposure to the high-end interior finishing and designing work at the World Towers with very low levels of tolerance trained me to work with perfection and proper technique.
I also worked at the Lodha New Cuffe Parade, one of Mumbai's biggest horizontally and vertically spanning projects consisting of 12 forty five storey towers and the biggest club house in Asia. I worked on completion of three floors of post tensioned basement area. My work included structural and quality inspections, planning of pours and checking of post tensioning of strands. I gained significant knowledge about concreting by being a part of concreting of pours as huge as 1800 cubic meter. After completion of the basement area, I worked on one of the 45 storey towers. As a site engineer, I dealt with technical inspections, concreting, micro planning and ensuring the quality of construction. Working at the Lodha Group gave me tremendous on-site exposure, technical knowledge of new technologies and strengthened my interest in architectural and design aspects of construction.
Witnessing my dad lead our family business of construction, I always dreamt of being an entrepreneur. With an aim of exploring entrepreneurship, learning new skills and starting a business of my own, I pounced on the first opportunity I had to be an entrepreneur and started GoMechanic with three other co-founders. GoMechanic is a start up in the field of Car Servicing and Repair aimed at disrupting the $22 billion after sales servicing industry in India. GoMechanic aims at partnering with Tier-2 garages and providing quality assurance, technology enabled operations and centralized procurement of spares aimed at revolutionizing the customer experience. As of September, GoMechanic has over 800 unique transactions, Gross Merchandise Value of INR 3 million and Annual Maintenance Contract with more than 300 taxis. From handling operations to business development, from designing products to planning the architecture for website and apps; it has led to my overall growth. My stint at GoMechanic has been an eye opening experience for me. Understanding the difficulties and challenges faced in starting up your own business being bootstrapped at the same time has made me grow as a person, engineer and as an entrepreneur.
As I am at a new crossroad in my career, I plan to work in designing and constructing sustainable building systems. Studying Architectural Engineering at Purdue will help me in polishing the technical knowledge I have garnered at Lodha Group and give me an unassailable experience.I would like to pursue research under the supervision Prof. A. Tzempelikos at the state-of-the-art façade engineering lab as specialized knowledge in façade is a rare skill to acquire. I am also fascinated with the idea of studying effects of manipulation in lighting, acoustics, etc, on human comfort and performance at the Center for High Performance Building. I want to be a part of the engineering department's vision of amplifying its impact on the society through the knowledge and education of its students and contribute in all possible ways.
Thank you for considering my application.
