STATEMENT OF PUROPSE

Having seen my father working hard for his small business through days and nights, has invigorated two traits in me: Hard work and Dedication. The third trait which I inherited from my mother is Regularity. In my childhood days, I was always amazed at her regular daily routine from waking up early in morning to sleeping till late in the night. Combining all these personality features with my interest in studies landed me in taking Engineering as my career path deviating from the legacy business line of my forefathers.

Choosing Civil Engineering as my career did not happen overnight. From my adolescent age only, I was keen in pursuing Civil engineering based on the fact that it could only pave a path for me to personally interact with buildings and their construction which had been fascinating me all over the years. Marvelous infrastructure, their applications and the complexity involved in constructing them were the factors which always used to amuse me. Looking at the construction of my own house gave me a big boost in learning civil engineering. This was one of the reasons that I had decided at an early stage of my cognitive development that I would like to devote my life to civil engineering. Everything from playing with sand sculptures in a muddy earth to the games of building blocks in a limited space reinforced a young mind’s aptitude towards Civil Stream. With an added advantage of growing up in a developing country where one could really have an idea about the importance and complexity of civil engineering involved in the progress of that country, I was fortunate enough to convert my fascination into reality by pursuing my graduation in Civil Engineering. Transformation from a Civil Engineer to a Structure Engineer occurred through four years of my graduation. Slowly and steadily, I was heading towards the goal and on the day of graduation when I tried to foresee my future, only Structures were present as far as I could see. The fascination of a child of knowing about structures, now, has got converted into passion of a young boy to know more about structures. About a decade later, Structural Engineer by profession now, revolution from a child’s aspirations to a civil engineer’s reality to a structural engineer’s interests, again those three strengths of mine are ready to prove as a helping hand in furthering myself in Structural Engineering Research area. Giving due regard to my research interests and future ambition of being a structural researcher, I am interested to pursue my graduate Studies in the field of Structural Engineering.

I have been performing excellently throughout my education and work career. At high school, I was always in the top 2 positions in a class of about 100 students. Also, I participated and succeeded in many national-level exams like National Science Olympiad, National Talent Search Examination, and Junior Math Olympiad etc. In recognition of my outstanding academic performance, the federal state government also awarded me with Merit Scholarship. Excellent academics, interest in studies & determination were the factors which helped me rank among the top 5% (among about 0.4 million competitors) in the prestigious AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Examination) and choose my alma mater from among the best universities in India i.e. THAPAR UNIVERSITY. To make my dream come true and live it in reality, I decided to undergo my undergraduate degree in civil engineering. During the course of my undergraduate study, I tried to delve into each and every subject in general and was successful in my attempts. This is visible in my grades and soon I was in a position of strength, the 2nd position of the departmental class of 45 with an overall grade of 9.61/10. I faired well in the design courses, be it steel, concrete or earthquake resistant design and this is reflected in my grades not only in the theoretical aspect but as well as in practical aspect.

During my undergraduate studies, with my career interests in view, I soon realized that certain value addition to curricular knowledge is necessary to carve a niche for myself and have an edge over the others in this competitive world. I volunteered for Institute for Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG) membership to be updated with latest advancements in the field of Steel. I tried to put my knowledge and creativity to use. In my sophomore Year, I lead a 3- member Thapar University team under guidance of professor Dr. Naveen Kwatra that got selected for the Earthquake Resistant Design competition held by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) –Bombay. This was my first experience of exposure with Earthquake Engineering. This provided me, for the first time, with an opportunity of brushing with the most amazing and incomprehensible natural force. Though I had earlier heard about a devastating earthquake in year 2001 in BHUJ, Gujarat, India but at that time I was totally unaware and curious to know about its origin, effects and its remedies. After almost 5 years, then I got a chance to answer all plethoras of questions which an inquisitive mind asked unconsciously. Continuing the enthusiasm, I participated in a national level Urban Area Planning event called NIRMAAN organized by Thapar University and won it. It gave me an in-depth understanding of various loadings and design factors involved in engineering of different infrastructures. Looking at my interest and passion with structural engineering, Dr. Maneek Kumar, Head-Civil Department, Thapar University gave me an opportunity to work under his guidance in designing a new 8 storied Boys Hostel which enlightened me about practical aspects of designing a structure and its construction. As a part of my senior year project at college, under the guidance of Professor Dr. Prempal Bansal, I completed my 6 months industrial internship at M/s. Consulting Engineering Services (India) Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, India whereby I designed Industrial multistoried buildings for automation and testing centers for automobiles using STAAD Pro and while sharing my experience and knowledge, I was commended for Best thesis paper presented. Apart from that I was also elected as a faculty assistant to teach a fresher course Structural Analysis. This involved engaging weekly tutorial classes, evaluating term papers, programming assignments etc. After completing graduation, I was on my way to enter industry as a Structural Design Engineer and to get myself acquainted with professionalism.

Based on my project work, in-depth knowledge, strong academics (2nd Rank out of 45) and keenness to learn, I got placed with M/s. Fluor Daniel India Pvt. Ltd, a company that delivers engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance services in diverse industries around the world. Embarking on my career, I was involved in design aspects of various steel & concrete structures and foundations in oil & gas energy sector. The company gave me good exposure to the burning issues in research of steel, earthquake engineering through various seminars and conferences. Also, I was given additional responsibility of giving presentations on steel design based on AISC to the new hires. This fruitful and enriching experience at the company gave me a better idea in terms of the scope of steel structures & its diversity which persuaded me taking my career further in Steel Structures specialty. After Fluor stint, I joined M/s. Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, India's largest infrastructure company which introduced me to the field of Power Sector. There also, according to my interest and knowledge I was handed over the sole responsibility of designing a steel Power house building of a 4000MW power project. Since the site was in earthquake prone zone hence I needed to apply my fundamentals of earthquake engineering in a more concrete way which ultimately helped me in excelling earthquake resistant design of steel structure. Moreover, I was nominated on behalf of my civil team for attending a lecture series on revised Indian Standard for steel design and construction (IS 800 – 2007) by professors Dr Satish Kumar( IIT-MADRAS), Dr. Arul Jyachandran (IIT-MADRAS) and Dr. R Senthil (Anna University). Thus I got exposure in both national and international codes and design standards for steel structures and earthquake resistant design. Taking on my research interests further once again I was in search for better opportunity and I was appointed as a Structural design Engineer by M/s. Technip KT India Ltd, Noida, India. It gave me a chance to practice all of my knowledge in my own way and I completed a project starting from developing the basic layout to finalizing the seismic force resisting braced frames to successfully optimized design of a composite concrete- steel framed technological structure. It remarkably raised my level of confidence and prompted me to learn more in the field of steel and earthquake engineering. I also organized a workshop on Structural steel Design using Indian Standard IS: 800-2007 edition and Comparison with AISC LRFD so that everyone in the department should get benefited. Recently I have been made a member of Technip R & D department for latest developments in Steel in onshore and offshore applications and took an initiative in encouraging 50 people to sign up for AISC membership. After spending enriching more than 3 yrs as a professional structural engineer with renowned organizations, time has now come that I should be in my study shoes once again. I feel a need to continue my formal education in the subject where I can integrate my work-experience and academics with research.

With the same motivating force, I wish to nurture the young researcher in me, who can contribute substantially to technological advancement that benefits mankind. Gaining the bird’s eye view of the industry, I would like to pursue cutting-edge research in Structural Engineering & Earthquake Engineering with renewed passion. I am confident, the graduate studies at the -------- University would provide me with the knowledge and tools to develop a deeper understanding of the subject. I would like to take with me, in addition to the knowledge of structural engineering, a network of strong and lasting relationships with my teachers and fellow-students. I wish for an opportunity to strengthen my ability for research, develop original ideas and to be a part of the creative process. My long term goal is to obtain a PhD and take up profession as a faculty to pursue research in Steel Structures associated with earthquake resistant Design. I have conducted a thorough search to find a match for my research interests, and I feel that _______ University for its Structural engineering research area stands to be the undebatable choice to pursue my Doctoral Studies. The research works being carried out by Prof. _______ interest me immensely. I hope this statement would be the first step in my pursuit of an inspiring and fruitful association with the ________ University.