Essay --

The growing relevance of Chemical Engineering in today’s world, from energy & oil industries to pharmaceuticals & biotechnology, and a keen desire for applying this knowledge in interrelated spheres motivates me to pursue a Master’s degree in this field. My interest in science goes back to the time when I was in school. We had a young and enthusiastic teacher who took us on field trips and visits to science fairs and museums. This nascent interest has only burgeoned through my years in school and high school, as I have learnt more about the subject. In the long run, I see myself as a part of a leading research group, either as a faculty member or in the R&D department of an organisation contributing my bit to the field of Chemical Engineering. As a research scientist, I hope to make a difference in this field and learn more through the innovative challenges. My father, being a chemical engineer, inspired in me an innate desire to be a chemical engineer myself. I appeared for the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) and was placed in the top 1% of the 1,100,000 students who had taken the exam. I chose Chemical Engineering as my undergraduate major at Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur which provided me the opportunity to explore the breadth of chemical engineering. While the core courses provided the fundamentals of the field, the electives that I chose helped me gain an insight into the various facets of chemical engineering. My main aim during my undergraduate studies was to get an overview of the various fields in chemical engineering and identify a field of interest in which I could pursue my research career. Because of their vast applications, Materials & Polymer Sciences, in general, have attracted m... ...timulating academic environment and interaction with the distinguished faculty at Columbia University will prove immensely fruitful and facilitate my development as an individual researcher in my field. I feel that XXXX has a lot to offer me, and at the same time, I believe that I would be able to make a positive contribution to on-going research work at XXXX. The incentive of working under Professor XXXX is reason enough of my desire to apply here. Not only because he is working on XXXX, my favorite field of study, but also because I think with my experience in the field of XXXX, I would be able to contribute significantly in his research. I am confident that my strong motivation, my undergraduate experiences and my skill set will help me to measure up to the rigors of graduate study. I look forward to joining XXXX as a graduate student at your esteemed department.