Personal Statement
In my first year in university, I chose to pursue Measurement Control and Instrumentation. This was because I enjoyed studying circuits and geometry. However, this course turned out to be largely about measurement instruments. It was not exactly what I had expected. Nevertheless, during the first half of my maiden year in university, I was able to find the proper course which suited my interests. I find Automation system and Engineering so appealing to me. I thought Automatic System and Engineering was a good option because of its interdisciplinary approach as it sought to provide a seamless fusion between engineering and mathematics. I enjoyed the fact that it was a hands-on course which emphasized both on practical skills as well as theory. In addition to its practical nature, I thought Automation System and Engineering was a brilliant idea because it would make me a part of a celebrated team of professionals that is concerned with integrating groundbreaking technology into engineering works. Similarly, Automation System and Engineering would equip me with specialist skills which can be transferrable in many fields within the engineering practice. Another reason why my interest in Automation System and Engineering was so great is the prestige associated with it. Unlike other flooded fields of engineering, Automation System and Engineering is associated with high regard and prestige.
My university presented us the opportunity of changing a major at the end of the first year. However, this opportunity was only limited to the top five ranked students. This made it a highly competitive opportunity as our class comprised of 160 students. This was not possible at first instance. This is because during the second half of my first year in university, I fell ill for two months and this significantly affected my preparations for the examinations. I subsequently did not attain the required grade to change my major at this point. This was a particularly low moment for me and I am always grateful to my university counselor who encouraged me such that I refocused all my efforts to the midterm examination of that semester where my hard work and persistence paid off. I was finally able to attain the requisite grades to achieve my goal of changing my major. Subsequently, from my second year, I joined the School of Aeronautics where I studied Control Theory and Engineering. Through this experience, I learnt the essence of being persistent in whatever I do.
During my study of control theory and engineering, I was involved in a number of activities. In my first three semesters of the course, I participated in two projects; one in alarming system and the other in automatic tracing. In my fourth and fifth semesters, together with three other colleagues, we developed a project on intelligent portable power and subsequently applied for the National Undergraduate Training Programs for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Our project was approved and sponsored by both the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China and my university. My role in the project was to manage the microcontroller so as to control the output and input of the power system and to protect the lithium battery. This project enabled me to become more familiar with the use of the microcontroller and to apply what I had learned in theory in a practical project. Apart from the project, I also participated in other groups that were of interest to me. Among these was the Freescale Intelligent Car Club. In addition, I also taught as a volunteer. I was fortunate to be awarded the National Scholarship which is awarded by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. All these activities helped in greatly strengthening my resolve to pursue the course.
My junior year also presented me with an opportunity to reflect on my university education this far. While I had participated in various activities related to my course, I realised that these were mostly practical projects or those that just arose out of interest. It occurred to me that I did not have the requisite knowledge as far as the core of control science and engineering is concerned. This created in me a burning desire to acquire a systematic knowledge of my major field. I subsequently approached one of my university professors from whom I learnt some fundamental mathematical knowledge of control theory like matrix inequality and control methods such as robust control. After acquiring this knowledge, I directed my focus to fault tolerance control, which is fundamentally based on fault diagnosis, and mainly on its application to linear control system. In the research, I endeavored to use the PCA-based approach, the PLS-based approach and the subspace aided data-driven approach to design the observer and get the residual. In this process I made serious efforts aimed at enhancing basic research.
During the summer holiday of 2013, I was fortunate to get a two week internship at the Third Research Institute, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. During the internship, I was able to learn about the cut-edge theory and products about control theory and engineering. The high end technology products at the institute were particularly appealing to me. During the internship, the lectures by the researchers were an invaluable source of information on how control theory was used in the products. This lectures triggered a knowledge thirst in me and I vowed to study a higher degree so as to learn the advanced theory and technology. I also had an opportunity to study at the University of Adelaide as an exchange student. This was through a sponsorship by the China Scholarship Council. One of the projects in my course was selected to be as part of the curriculum of the exchange program. I was impressed by the proficiency of my colleagues in programming for the microcontroller as well the significant skills showed by our tutors in guiding us in the project. I took the part to program for the interface port to store coordinates input by users and display information on screen during running I vowed to pursue more knowledge in the field so that one day I could be as good if not better than them. The exchange program was an eye opener as I realised that there is still a lot to learn in my chosen field.
I, therefore, apply for PhD in System and Robot Control, Control Theory and Engineering so as to increase my knowledge in this field. I believe through pursuing the PhD I will be able to learn a lot and also do in depth research which will go a long way in enhancing my knowledge of the field. I am certain that through this program, I will achieve my dream of becoming a part of a celebrated team of professionals that is concerned with integrating groundbreaking technology into engineering works. The program will as well equip me with specialist skills which can be transferrable in many fields within the engineering practice. The program is my vehicle to attaining the prestige and regard associated with Engineering.
