SOP

It was 2012, my exhaustive board exams had just culminated and I was eagerly looking forward
to visit my uncle in New Jersey. Their family had recently shifted to a new house and it was truly
fascinating. Everything was automated - the doors, garage, television set, sprinklers, car sensors and
even the supermall doors. I had always wondered how those worked and now I was using them. I
talked inquisitively with my cousins and my uncle about it. I had developed a keenness for automation.
Maximizing every opportunity to learn about automated devices, I was excited to find an academic
path towards this passion. When my 12th board exams were over, I choose to an engineering degree
in electronics as it provided a perfect blend between hardware and software domain. So I took
admission in Nirma University in Bachelor of Technology program with major in Electronics and
Communications.

My undergraduate programme initially introduced me to multifaceted fields of engineering. The

freshmen year helped me gain an overview of all the fields. I understood how an algorithm works by
working on array and matrix multiplication, addition, concatenation and transposition. In my
sophomore year I focused on improving my knowledge related to basic electronics and logic gates.
Eager to gain practical understanding, I spent plenty of time in our labs working on counters and timers
as well as making multiplexers and encoders and then reverse engineering them to make de-
multiplexers and decoders. The Digital Circuits subject struck a chord with me. I could understand and
implement circuits from their core. I presented a seminar on Visible Light Communication in the latter
part of my sophomore year to a panel of faculties. The panel’s feedback and inputs on this technology
made me realise the vastness of the opportunities I could explore.

To follow my interest in automation I did a 4-week internship at AmTech electronics, a firm

working on automation and industrial lines control. I worked with the firm’s R&D team on automating
industry lines using 3 phase induction motor. Adapting to the industry practices in those four weeks
was a huge challenge. Understanding how the firm allocated resources to optimize the product and
minimized the production cost in the long run taught me how the research department works. The
level of testing needed before supplying the product helped me improve upon my designing skills.

The first half of my junior year gave me the ideal platform to work on multiple projects and this
helped me in narrowing my interest. I learned the use of different sensors through various projects,
which in turn enabled me to design the Light detecting sensor and zero crossing detector on my own.
I took up a project on Universal IR remote using TSOP 1738 IR (Infrared) receiver and IR LED as
transmitter using microcontroller board. This gave me an introduction to the interfacing techniques
that can be used for sensors and the ports needed. Academic projects such as traffic light system using
the concept of a microcontroller IC (Atmega 89C52) as counter/timer made me realize the possibilities
ahead. Working on diverse projects made me realize that my core interest lay in the domain of
microcontrollers and microprocessors.

The electives in the second part of my junior year helped me solidify my interest and spurred me
to research about the RISC-V Shakti processor, a processor aimed at supercomputing. I made a term
paper on the same incorporating processor microarchitecture, stages of pipelining and describing the
different versions. I took up RFID based access system as my second mini project. For this I had to
learn about the basics of serial communication and the concept of master slave. The prototype was
robust, secure and optimized to the highest level. I demonstrated this project at a program on
“Embedded Systems Design” to faculties from various several Universities. They highlighted to me the
numerous industrial applications for the project and suggested several possible improvements. Their
feedback was extremely encouraging and it stimulated me to expand my technical skill-set. I learned
Verilog hardware description language and designed an 8 bit ALU on it. To gauge my competence, I
designed a MAC (Multiplier and Accumulator) Unit at a national level hardware coding competition
based on Verilog at the official tech fest of Nirma University and stood third.

After my Junior year, I decided to translate my theoretical learning into practice. So, I pursued a
project in the Industry during my one month summer Internship. We (a group of three) had to procure
the current and voltage readings at a solar plant and then upload them on cloud. This was the first
time I was modelling a product based on industry standards and it made me realise the level of
accuracy needed. The satisfaction on success of our prototype gave me a push to work towards my
passion. Having realized the importance of practical self-learning beyond the purview of the
curriculum, I decided to make projects using my industrial experiences to give optimum design. In my
Senior year I used Atmega 8 IC and made a self-balancing robot using stepper motors as my minor
project. I also designed an effective prototype of wireless electronic notice board for any institution.
To reduce hardware and give an optimum design I used AtMega 8 microcontroller IC and I2C (inter
integrated circuit) protocol for the gyro sensor. This experience has helped me realize my passion in
automation industry.

The diverse industrial and co-curricular opportunities and my keenness to make an impact has
helped me formulate my goals. I have always wanted to change people’s lives by providing simple
solutions. My internships and projects have shown me that the ideal way to do so would be through
automation. However, my interactions have also highlighted to me the necessity of advancing my
education to fulfil this dream. I believe that the MS program is the perfect stepping stone towards
my aim. It will be the perfect platform for me to excel academically and prepare myself to take up
challenging industrial opportunities.

I wish to do a Master of Science degree in xxx under yyy department at your University. I have
always had a predilection towards automation and IoT. In depth study of subjects on the same
through various courses will act as a perfect blend to enhance my knowledge. I have always found
labs as means to test my credibility and the labs on aaa will help me in overcoming my limitations.
The quality of research on pqr domain by ccc and ddd is what I am interested in and it would be an
honour, if given a chance, to be a part of that team. Different student organizations and events such
as fff will help me in interacting with the industry leaders and balancing my extra-curricular.
Competitions such as jjj will help me in testing my capability. A combination of world class facilities,
experienced professors and curriculum will help me in attaining skills needed to excel towards my
goal.

I thank the admissions committee for devoting their time to consider my application. If given an
opportunity, I will aim to live up to the standards set by your University and strive for excellence as a
student.