Electrical Engineering PersonalStatement (Southampton)
Aged 6, I firstattended The Polish National Science Fair. I was amazed by the projects ondisplay, and wished that, one day, I would be able to submit a stand of my own.All the time I used to ask "how" and "why" and, unlikeothers, this is a habit which I have still not grown out of. My fascinationwith systems and science has only developed; I have since embarked on many ofmy own projects. In recent years I have been awarded the Arkwright Scholarship,participated in a science fair and I now wish to continue my passion forengineering by furthering my education at degree level.
Currently, I amdeveloping an Autonomous Metal Detector - a vehicle capable of rastering largeareas independently while looking for metallic objects. Having spent a largeamount of my time and dedication on this endeavour, I feel that not only have Imassively expanded my technical skills; I have realised how importantmathematics is as an aspect of engineering. Over the course of the project, Ibecame much more enthusiastic towards the subject and researched a lot ofadvanced topics required for my system, such as Direction Cosine Matrices andspherical geometry. Due to the scale and expense, I found it necessary to workpart time as a freelance programmer as well as on building relationships withvarious companies, in order to obtain sponsorships and grants. This helped meto expand the project, and has led to engineering work experienceopportunities. These stretches of work have confirmed my ambition to become anengineer and provided me with the educational experience of working on projectsto strict specifications. With the aforementioned project, I went on to win theYoung Engineer of the Year and National Science Competition at a regional leveland am confident I will now be successful in the National Finals. Followingthat, I have also been invited to present my project at the Armed ForcesCommunications and Electronics Association competition – an opportunity I amgreatly looking forward to as each competition gives me a chance to practise mypitching and presentation skills.
Another majorproject I have worked on recently is a Muon spark chamber. This was verydifferent to my previous ventures, involving various aspects of engineering,and, as such, I experienced working with a team of persons with a wide range ofskillsets. I felt that this project was important to me as it was not only agreat technical challenge; it also refined my research methodologies. On top ofmy own projects, I spent many hours assisting other students at school,providing advice and guidance. In school, I often help the DT department at myschool and I feel the time spent working with less experienced students hasallowed me to develop my communication skills, and, in particular, how toconvey complex ideas in a simple manner.
In order tofurther my academic knowledge, I have engaged in a variety of reading onrelated subjects, including texts like "The Art of Electronics" byHorowitz and Hill, a book I keep on coming back to as my main reference forelectronics, as well as a range of blogs and articles. When possible, I attendconferences and university lectures, ranging from weekly Physics open lecturesat UCL to events like the "Think Computer Science" hosted byMicrosoft Research. I feel that a lot of these lectures, even if too advancedfor me to fully comprehend, have extended my overall understanding of howphysics can be applied. Overall, I would love to study engineering and work atthe forefront of research and development. I am fascinated by the progress madeon a day to day basis in the engineering world. Consequently, I feel it is avery satisfying and fulfilling field. I sincerely hope that this personalstatement clearly conveys my desire and great potential to pursue this subject.
Aged 6, I firstattended The Polish National Science Fair. I was amazed by the projects ondisplay, and wished that, one day, I would be able to submit a stand of my own.All the time I used to ask "how" and "why" and, unlikeothers, this is a habit which I have still not grown out of. My fascinationwith systems and science has only developed; I have since embarked on many ofmy own projects. In recent years I have been awarded the Arkwright Scholarship,participated in a science fair and I now wish to continue my passion forengineering by furthering my education at degree level.
Currently, I amdeveloping an Autonomous Metal Detector - a vehicle capable of rastering largeareas independently while looking for metallic objects. Having spent a largeamount of my time and dedication on this endeavour, I feel that not only have Imassively expanded my technical skills; I have realised how importantmathematics is as an aspect of engineering. Over the course of the project, Ibecame much more enthusiastic towards the subject and researched a lot ofadvanced topics required for my system, such as Direction Cosine Matrices andspherical geometry. Due to the scale and expense, I found it necessary to workpart time as a freelance programmer as well as on building relationships withvarious companies, in order to obtain sponsorships and grants. This helped meto expand the project, and has led to engineering work experienceopportunities. These stretches of work have confirmed my ambition to become anengineer and provided me with the educational experience of working on projectsto strict specifications. With the aforementioned project, I went on to win theYoung Engineer of the Year and National Science Competition at a regional leveland am confident I will now be successful in the National Finals. Followingthat, I have also been invited to present my project at the Armed ForcesCommunications and Electronics Association competition – an opportunity I amgreatly looking forward to as each competition gives me a chance to practise mypitching and presentation skills.
Another majorproject I have worked on recently is a Muon spark chamber. This was verydifferent to my previous ventures, involving various aspects of engineering,and, as such, I experienced working with a team of persons with a wide range ofskillsets. I felt that this project was important to me as it was not only agreat technical challenge; it also refined my research methodologies. On top ofmy own projects, I spent many hours assisting other students at school,providing advice and guidance. In school, I often help the DT department at myschool and I feel the time spent working with less experienced students hasallowed me to develop my communication skills, and, in particular, how toconvey complex ideas in a simple manner.
In order tofurther my academic knowledge, I have engaged in a variety of reading onrelated subjects, including texts like "The Art of Electronics" byHorowitz and Hill, a book I keep on coming back to as my main reference forelectronics, as well as a range of blogs and articles. When possible, I attendconferences and university lectures, ranging from weekly Physics open lecturesat UCL to events like the "Think Computer Science" hosted byMicrosoft Research. I feel that a lot of these lectures, even if too advancedfor me to fully comprehend, have extended my overall understanding of howphysics can be applied. Overall, I would love to study engineering and work atthe forefront of research and development. I am fascinated by the progress madeon a day to day basis in the engineering world. Consequently, I feel it is avery satisfying and fulfilling field. I sincerely hope that this personalstatement clearly conveys my desire and great potential to pursue this subject.
