Considering both the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying and the unique aspects of the University of Pennsylvania, what do you hope to learn from and contribute to the Penn community? (Please answer in one page, approximately 500 words.)
Over the past two years away from the school, I became fascinated with the energy technology. Small changes in the environment, such as new installation of solar panels in my apartment or hybrid cars cruising on the road, offered me the time to think about the importance of renewable energy resources in the near future. And I found it exciting to let myself into this energy technology and work with it. I became particularly fascinated with the energy storage systems, like lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells. The challenges of developing more efficient energy storing triggered my curiosity to learn more about it. This is now what I intend to study in college.
I decided to transfer to University of Pennsylvania, because regarding my current academic level and passion in energy technology Penn offers most suitable engineering curriculum and research opportunities that are closely matched to my interest. Penn's focus on material researches, as revealed in the laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter and Interdisciplinary Research Groups, will be a great opportunity to learn about the new nanoparticles that are the core technology for building energy capturing cells.
I particularly hope to work in Professor Winey's Research Group for designing new nanocomposites and ion-containing polymers will be a good start to understand the fundamental mechanism of battery technology. Understanding the behaviors of electrodes in different polymers and improving the electrical conductivity will play critical roles in battery technology, and by participating her research group, I will gain professional skills in my research interest. In addition, Professor Lee's layer-by-layer assembly of functional thin films will offer me a different way to approach the energy storage system.
As I reach to the upper level, I hope to engage in a research on the lithium-ion battery. I hope to study about the effects of the stress caused by lithium of silicon electrodes during the lithiation and find out the ways to reduce the stress while increasing the battery efficiency. With Penn's excellent research facilities and the skills gained through Professor Winey and Lee's research groups, I am confident that I will succeed in making a progress for the lithium-ion battery research.
My unique military experience and the UN peacekeeping operation will bring more diversity to UPENN, and my passion in energy technology will make synergy effects to the campus as I participate in various organizations and researches. But more importantly, my research in lithium-ion battery will bring a fresh research interest to the Penn community and the school will find out more about the lithium-ion battery technology. This will add another energy cells research besides Dr.Gorte's solid oxide fuel cells researches or Penenergy's research on future renewable energy resources.
Upon graduation from Penn, I will further study about the lithium-ion batteries. With a solid academic foundation from Penn's engineering and business insight, I hope to launch a new manufacturing company in Southeast Asia and produce the cost-effective lithium-ion batteries in later life. This is my long-term goal in my life, but I am confident that I can achieve my dream with the support of University of Pennsylvania.
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Can anyone help me out to make it flow more naturally? Please do not hesitate to make corrections...
Thanks
