As you will note from my resume, I am a very high academic achiever. My achievements arise not only from a natural aptitude for mathematics, physics and computing but also from a genuine passion for these subjects and great intellectual curiosity. Indeed work and pleasure overlap constantly in my studies, projects and spare time reading. However, I have always sought to be a ‘well rounded’ person and have many and varied outside interests including drama, singing, debating, photography and astronomy all of which I thoroughly enjoy. My long term goal is to be an influential and significant faculty member of a world class computer science department in a prestigious university such as yours. I excelled in all subjects in my school career but my choice of specialist subjects was an easy one. From the first lesson in computing I was fascinated and this fascination grew with every subsequent lesson. In addition to my formal studies in Engineering in Computer Science, I read many periodicals, websites and blogs, indeed any useful source dealing with computer science to help me increase the scope of my knowledge. I was very fortunate to be raised by parents who possess a strong social conscience and they have always impressed upon me the importance of helping others on an individual basis and in using my skills for the benefit of others. At school, I was a Guide in the Scouts and Guides Association and participated in various service programs including prison visiting. I was also an active member of the school’s Environment Club educating others about ways of protecting the local environment. Since joining my undergraduate program, I have assisted in organizing the bi-annual blood donation camps at college. I genuinely seek to use my skills, choice of research topics and future work for the general benefit. I have particularly enjoyed taking part in various successful projects during my degree studies to date. For instance, my college recently held event called a ‘Technofest’ and I presented a paper on artificial intelligence that was very well received by the faculty and my peers. I have been selected by my professor, Dr. XXX as his thesis student and my thesis is based on Web Services Security and Cloud Computing. As part of my thesis, I will be creating Hospital Management REST and SOAP web services and will be hosting it on Cloud. A paper on this work is scheduled to be published by the end of 2011. I have greatly enjoyed this work and genuinely believe that I have those characteristics required of an excellent researcher. I am highly analytical in my approach, I am curious and, most importantly, I am persistent and focused. I am happy to work alone but also appreciate that the value of teamwork. I hope to undertake further research during the Ph.D. program into the areas Developing Web Services, Security in Web Services and Cloud Computing. I genuinely believe that I have the skills and characteristics that will enable me to undertake original and useful research in these areas. I have been given opportunities to teach since I was fourteen when, as a gifted pupil, I was appointed to help fellow students to understand concepts that they initially found difficult to grasp. I derive great satisfaction from sharing my knowledge and skills and I very much look forward to assisting with teaching during the program. Although my travels have been fairly limited, I have studied with people of various cultural and social backgrounds. I look forward to travelling more widely and to extending my experience of other cultures and of sharing knowledge of my own. I understand that there will be other well qualified applicants for the program. However I do believe that I am an exceptional candidate, I am sure that my genuine unbounded enthusiasm and passion for my subject together with my current research experience will enable me to make unique contributions to computer science and I am determined to do so. I hope that you will provide me with the opportunity.

A Vietnamese man born and raised in California, I am now finishing my BS Degree in Biology at UXXX and I want very much to pursue graduate studies at XXU in the area of software engineering. I feel very strongly that the greatest contribution that I might be able to make to society would be to help create innovative products that benefit the medical community, healthcare industry, or academic research. I want to devote my professional life to the design of programs that assist physicians and other healthcare professionals correctly diagnose patient disease and help them to come up with the best treatment plans. I look forward to developing programs for new medical devices, helping researchers to better interpret and analyze their findings. I have spent considerable time in Mexico and Hawaii as well as Vietnam. I am not able to write Vietnamese, but I speak it well; I dream of working in software development that would help Vietnam to develop its healthcare resources. Although the country’s economy has been growing in the past decade, there are still a large number of people living in poverty or considered low income that do not have access to adequate medical attention. The health care system doesn’t have the necessary combination of money and tools to provide quality care. I would like to help. I would like to work in the biotech or pharmaceutical industry, hopefully on international levels. I want to harness the state-of-the-art tools that I will learn in your program to my interest in biology and biotechnology. I believe myself to be a highly disciplined thinker in part because of serving as a martial arts instructor for more than ten years, teaching a class of 20-30 students. This has helped me to refine my communication, leadership, and organizational skills. I have volunteered at the San Fernando Vietnamese Association, as well as for a local Vietnamese Buddhist temple, assisting in preparation of important events. My job duties were to set up tables and chairs, give out food, and clean up. I originally intended to pursue a career in pharmacy, which is why all of my professional experience is in this area. What happened is that I simply fell in love with what I was learning in my computer science classes. They have given me a strong foundation in theoretical concepts and practical programming applications. Math and Physics helped me to improve my analytical and evaluative skills. Biology and Chemistry labs taught me how to work effectively with others, collaborating and delegating tasks to complete assignments, developing skills that will help me to excel in your program. I started working at the pharmacy to get some work experience while finishing up some prerequisites for pharmacy school. It was while I was working at the pharmacy that I became really interested in computers. For the past several years, therefore, I have dedicated my time to studying computer science by enrolling in programming and web development courses. I have a basic understanding of how programs work, how they are developed, and what they can do, I know enough to be certain that it is this area to which I wish to devote my life. XXU is the perfect spot for someone with my interests in database management, object-oriented programming,and Internet technologies.

From my earliest years I loved puzzles and games involving the application of logic. It was a delight, at school, to discover that my skills had an application in computing. From my first lesson in the subject, I was ‘hooked’, it was work but it was also fun, an elusive combination to many in the world. I feel extremely fortunate to be in a position to be submitting this application to undertake further study in a subject that I love and that has the potential to do so much good in the world. My goals are to complete your Master’s program and then pursue a Ph.D. and ultimately to become a researcher and teacher in a prestigious university. During my undergraduate education, I worked on many challenging projects and won many awards. One of my team’s projects won first prize in the innovation competition at the King Saud University’s Annual Student Scientific Symposium and a silver medal at the 10th Malaysian Innovation Expo. The project was entitled “Brain Controlled E-Mail Client” and involved the design of an application that allows the severely disabled to read and compose e-mails using a brain/computer interface. We turned a desirable concept into reality and this is enormously rewarding and what drives me on to acquire more skills and knowledge. I was also involved in the design and implementation of a search engine that is able to analyze queries in Arabic and retrieve relevant results. Other projects related to natural language processing technologies and information retrieval. I am particularly interested in doing further work to help the disabled to lead fuller lives. Specifically, I am interested in assisting research in the areas of Machine Learning, Data Mining and Computational Neuroscience. I do not claim sole credit for the success of the projects in which I have been involved. All the major projects in which I have participated have been team efforts but I have always been able to make significant contributions. I enjoy working within a team. My experiences of team working have proved to me that a good team can be much more than the ‘sum of its parts’. I do expect my contribution to a team’s success to be acknowledged and I am always ready to give credit to other team members for their own; this is one of the main keys to the running of a successful team. I have had the good fortune to be awarded a full scholarship by my government for this program; this has been awarded because of my excellent bachelor degree results. I am grateful for their confidence and share their view that I can gain considerable benefit from the program and make a significant contribution to my class and the University. It is my hope to repay the considerable investment made by my country by teaching students in Saudi Arabia. I have some recent teaching experience and find it extremely satisfying to pass my knowledge on to others. I am aware of the reputation of the UXX for excellence in Computer Science and the fact that California is a major center of knowledge in my subject and this is, of course, a major reason for my application. However I am also keen to study and socialize in an environment that will expose me to people of many different cultural and social backgrounds and know that the UXX can fulfill this hope. I am very interested in other cultures and increasing my knowledge of them and am always happy to share information about my own. I know that there will be many well qualified applicants for the program. However I do consider myself to be an excellent candidate. My academic results provide evidence of diligence and intelligence; I have already been involved in several successful research projects requiring planning skills, perseverance, determination and team working; I have teaching experience. My main recommendation is a passion for computing and a deeply held desire to learn as much as I can and to translate my learning into solutions to real problems.

Earning a PHD in Computer Science will enable me to become a highly capable university professor and contribute to important research in my field. I have very much enjoyed my own college experience and look forward to mastering and staying abreast of the most important developments in our dynamic field, sharing our challenges and triumphs with new generations of students. I have tutored students in math and very much enjoy teaching. Currently, I am a successful web developer bringing the advanced screening industry onto electronic ticketing. I have long planned to return to school, however, so that I could become a more accomplished expert in my field qualified to teach others and I now feel that I am at the optimal point in my career to do so. Working in the industry has been most exciting and now I want to pursue a new chapter in my life, preparing for a career teaching at a college level. Thus, I am applying for your highly esteemed PHD Program. My senior project at XXX College was a web based summer camp software program for registering campers and tracked their classes while at camp. The software was used the summer after graduation. The experience of supporting software development and interacting directly with users was especially fulfilling insofar as users were able to assert full control over the project. This principle of providing users with full control also guided my endeavors since that time as well. After college, I took a job as a PC technician at Adventist Health working at XXXX Medical Center in Los Angeles where I worked in the development of their electronic ticketing system for advanced screenings. The job was a great introduction for me to a broad range of issues in the development and maintenance of information systems. When a position opened up on the web team, they promoted me. For the next three years I worked on building intranet web based applications in PHP and MySQL. I also maintained many legacy systems based on Java and ASP. During this time, I also assisted a college with the development of their website. I spent a year working out the workflow and building a very customer friendly site. In April of 2007, myself and my colleagues reached a deal with a nation-wide advertizing agency that very much liked our work and hired us to do web development on their behalf. For three years now, I have been expanding sites and refining the user experience in line with business requirements. The principal web site has been reworked several times and now runs on top of Drupal with several custom modules for electronic ticketing. As a part of the Drupal community, I create issues for bugs, review patches, and submit patches for issues our team has fixed. We have come to very much appreciate the effectiveness of school Linux and open source software along with Drupal. A few years ago I volunteered as a coach in the First Robotics League. This elementary school league competes using Lego Mindstorm kits to create autonomous robots in a Lego playing field. While the application is very basic, it has enormous possibilities. Artificial intelligence and machine learning fascinated me to no end and I am looking forward to continuing to do research in these areas. The University of XXXX is my first choice for graduate study as a result of my deep admiration for the work of XXXX in Artificial Intelligence as well as the lab run by XXXX. I thank you for considering my application to your program.

I am applying to your highly esteemed program at XXXU because I seek a state-of-the-art, research-oriented career in communications. I live primarily for the excitement of harnessing technology to the quest for ever more sophisticated personal and especially mobile communication. On a theoretical level, I am most attracted to the study of random process and probability. I believe I will be happy at XXXX University because your program offers what I most want from a graduate school: a strong faculty, a solid background, and a sophisticated atmosphere. I believe that my educational background and analytical abilities will enable me to excel at XXXU and make important contributions to the countless cutting-edge projects taking shape in your program. I completed my secondary education at the Science High School in my native Turkey, which provided me a strong base for a rigorous mathematical training as an undergraduate student in college. The Science High School is one of the most privileged institutions in Turkey, with students selected from the top first percentile of examinees nationwide. Its curriculum is designed to foster creative thought by allowing students to enrich their theoretical knowledge with research projects and experimental analysis that builds upon their own individual initiative. In 2002, I began my undergraduate studies in the Department of Electronics at Istanbul Technical University (ITU). One of the world's leading institutions of higher learning that is specifically dedicated to engineering education, ITU has a long and distinguished history educating engineers since 1773; it also selects admits only especially gifted students from the top one percentile of examinees taking the Turkish University Placement Exam. By the time I graduated, I had become especially devoted to applications of digital system designs, taking special delight in figuring out how logical circuits can be combined. I became adept not only at C but also VHDL programming. My graduation project dealt with the optimization of WIMAX based stations based on power requirements and geographical properties, an especially useful experience since today’s wireless technology is largely driven by WIMAX. I measured signal strength, corresponding modulation type, and coding rates according to geological environment, measuring link capacity thorough a built-in interface. After graduation, I joined the NETAS Telecommunication Company, a subsidiary of the European NORTEL Corporation, where I wrestled with signaling issues to establish reliable and sustainable network communication, working with the software that drives real time communication. After one year, I decided to return to academia, this time in America, at the University of South Florida, where I graduated with my Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering this past May of 2010. I chose the EE Program at XXXX because of its rigorous emphasis on communication, personal, mobile, digital, wireless, etc. Since graduation, I have continued to prepare myself for your doctoral program with additional advanced courses in Mathematics that are geared towards advanced research in Communications. I have experience serving as both a research and teaching assistant and I hope to be of service to XXXU in any way that will enhance our progress as an academic community on the cutting edge of tomorrow. I thank you for considering my application to your program.

For over ten years, I have stayed on a direct course to computer science and engineering in my education and in my work. More than this, growing up in Iran and going for undergraduate education in Computer Science, I knew that with each new day of research and study I would be getting closer to bringing my dreams to reality. And now I have reached a point in my academics and my career where I want to do more research, and increase my understanding through the graduate Computer Science and Engineering program at XXX University. I am completely fascinated with how the human eye senses light, and simulate vision in conjunction with our brain, and how simultaneously the brain stores images automatically. At the same time, I have always wondered if we could make computers do the same thing. At XXX I will be able to work as a member of the research team on visual attention in human and computer systems, helping to answer these questions. To date, I have been increasingly interested in the variability of the visual world, the way we see the world, through my work and in my own personal research. XXX, I will be to find how computers can also have vision, interpret visual motion in high-level terms, and how computers can have high-level motion understanding. I anticipate hands-on experiences in programming robots to complete tasks, as well as the newer ways robots can explore and interact within an environment. I have read a great deal about the newer stereovision research, line and region extraction as well as motion analysis and am eager to see for myself how computers and robots can recognize and detect objects in real-time, and automatically. Completing a graduate program in Computer Science and Engineering will prepare me for eventually becoming a professor of chairperson in a XXX in Canada. The ideal would be to work as a professor and a lead researcher, sharing my knowledge and experiences with like-minded researchers, industrial leaders, and students wanting to go into research. My years of being a Technical Analyst, my training, experiences, and proven ability have prepared me to make significant contributions to the field of computer science and engineering research. In Iran, I studied computer engineering and immediately started building my experiences after graduating, working first in telecommunications and then in banking for three years as a computer engineer. Now I work for one of Canada's biggest companies, Canadian Tire as a co-op student, which gives me relevant experience that I can apply theory to, and prepare for my graduate degree program. Working here in Canada has made me want to give more, and go further, and with XXX I can do this. Getting my undergraduate degree in Iran was very important to starting my career but when I emigrated to Canada, I knew I had to update my knowledge and get a sense of what the issues were in Canada. Going to XXX and studying Computer System Technology as well as University XXX, I have taken many courses that relate to sensors and other integral computer hardware and have completed many projects, from very simple ones like building a small light sensitive robot as a junior computer-engineering student to the more complex. For example, I have many hands-on experiences as an individual and in teams with the installation and maintenance of XXX networks, troubleshooting circuits and faulty computers, and have used networking terminology when working with telecom vendors. Many times, I have to work in a deadline, multitasking workplace, and always wanted to finish the projects before the deadline. After all my experiences and education, I have acquired many valuable experiences and knowledge in all facets of troubleshooting, installations and maintenance for various desktop operations, hardware and software. In addition, working with non-technical people, I learned how to deliver highly complex technical information in terms and concepts that end users can readily grasp. As a future professor and researcher in a XXX university, I expect to find students and faculty from all over the world. I grew up in Iran, and have lived and been educated in Iran and Canada. Also, I have traveled to many places in my country, as well as to Malaga, China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and plan on traveling all over Canada. Already I speak two languages and have met and interacted with people of many different cultures, and think that I can communicate well with people of all kinds of backgrounds. This will help me greatly in the classroom, as I will be able to reach diverse students on many levels. I truly appreciate diversity, love meeting new people and sharing different worldviews. Even in Canada, I understand how there are many cultures, and people from Asia, Europe, the US and other places. Canada is now my home and I want to give back. I have taught before, in both Iran and Canada. While I was doing my undergraduate in computer science in Iran, I spent two years teaching computer instruction. This is when I started designing curriculums myself and feel that I did this creatively, making lessons interesting. Now in Canada, I have tutored part-time for two years while at XXX College, giving extra instruction to students and helping them with various academic study areas. This has helped keep my interest in teaching and my skills as a teacher practiced. XXX University is the only school I am applying to. No other school in Canada can offer me a better curriculum with such a refined scope. Also the list of faculty is very impressive and I am eager to work with such intelligent and highly educated people faculty and students who share my passion for computer science and engineering. The internship program would help me continue my co-op education, increasing my exposure in industry, and my understanding of new issues, research and challenges. I look forward to being a creative leader for future research in the field of computer science and engineering. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I have maintained over a decade of conceptual continuity in my academic and professional careers. Aside from my list of skills, experiences and abilities as a senior user support specialist with a major US university, I have been incredibly fortunate to augment my everyday experiences working alongside research specialists, giving me intimate insights into the intriguing XXXX program. Watching these talented individuals work, I was at once fascinated and highly interested in their pursuits, but later realized that not only did I possess the requisite passion to excel in the XXXX program, but also the same creative spirit that they embody. My life, with these skills, has been incredibly emotionally and psychologically satisfying. The seriousness with which I have approached my professional work is evident in my possessing multiple professional certifications. This same professionalism will translate perfectly to a scholastic program, one in which I will be able to make invaluable contributes and insights into the applied as I place my experiences logically within a framework of theoretical understanding. Indeed, I am anxious to begin broadening my depth of knowledge in a number of key areas, including, but not limited to, database management, advanced computer networking and internet technologies. A Masters Degree will make me that much more valuable to the university, paving my path to serving the University as a professor. Being accepted by your program would enable me to attain my long-term professional goals of teaching networking and communication in a quality university, while making significant research contributions as a database architect or strategist. XXX is my sole choice for a graduate program because its learning environment is unparalleled; its professors are elite in terms of their wisdom and the quality of the university is unquestionable. I have had the unique opportunity to be both a student and employee of this university, aiding it as it aids me. It is my hope to continue this relationship until its inevitable terminus when I proudly graduate, walking away, over a decade in the making, serving others and my community as I have been served.

For over ten years, I have stayed on a direct course to computer science and engineering in my education and in my work. More than this, growing up in Iran and going for undergraduate education in Computer Science, I knew that with each new day of research and study I would be getting closer to bringing my dreams to reality. And now I have reached a point in my academics and my career where I want to do more research, and increase my understanding through the graduate Computer Science and Engineering program at XXX University. I am completely fascinated with how the human eye senses light, and simulate vision in conjunction with our brain, and how simultaneously the brain stores images automatically. At the same time, I have always wondered if we could make computers do the same thing. At XXX I will be able to work as a member of the research team on visual attention in human and computer systems, helping to answer these questions. To date, I have been increasingly interested in the variability of the visual world, the way we see the world, through my work and in my own personal research. XXX, I will be to find how computers can also have vision, interpret visual motion in high-level terms, and how computers can have high-level motion understanding. I anticipate hands-on experiences in programming robots to complete tasks, as well as the newer ways robots can explore and interact within an environment. I have read a great deal about the newer stereovision research, line and region extraction as well as motion analysis and am eager to see for myself how computers and robots can recognize and detect objects in real-time, and automatically. Completing a graduate program in Computer Science and Engineering will prepare me for eventually becoming a professor of chairperson in a XXX in Canada. The ideal would be to work as a professor and a lead researcher, sharing my knowledge and experiences with like-minded researchers, industrial leaders, and students wanting to go into research. My years of being a Technical Analyst, my training, experiences, and proven ability have prepared me to make significant contributions to the field of computer science and engineering research. In Iran, I studied computer engineering and immediately started building my experiences after graduating, working first in telecommunications and then in banking for three years as a computer engineer. Now I work for one of Canada's biggest companies, Canadian Tire as a co-op student, which gives me relevant experience that I can apply theory to, and prepare for my graduate degree program. Working here in Canada has made me want to give more, and go further, and with XXX I can do this. Getting my undergraduate degree in Iran was very important to starting my career but when I emigrated to Canada, I knew I had to update my knowledge and get a sense of what the issues were in Canada. Going to XXX and studying Computer System Technology as well as University XXX, I have taken many courses that relate to sensors and other integral computer hardware and have completed many projects, from very simple ones like building a small light sensitive robot as a junior computer-engineering student to the more complex. For example, I have many hands-on experiences as an individual and in teams with the installation and maintenance of XXX networks, troubleshooting circuits and faulty computers, and have used networking terminology when working with telecom vendors. Many times, I have to work in a deadline, multitasking workplace, and always wanted to finish the projects before the deadline. After all my experiences and education, I have acquired many valuable experiences and knowledge in all facets of troubleshooting, installations and maintenance for various desktop operations, hardware and software. In addition, working with non-technical people, I learned how to deliver highly complex technical information in terms and concepts that end users can readily grasp. As a future professor and researcher in a XXX university, I expect to find students and faculty from all over the world. I grew up in Iran, and have lived and been educated in Iran and Canada. Also, I have traveled to many places in my country, as well as to Malaga, China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and plan on traveling all over Canada. Already I speak two languages and have met and interacted with people of many different cultures, and think that I can communicate well with people of all kinds of backgrounds. This will help me greatly in the classroom, as I will be able to reach diverse students on many levels. I truly appreciate diversity, love meeting new people and sharing different worldviews. Even in Canada, I understand how there are many cultures, and people from Asia, Europe, the US and other places. Canada is now my home and I want to give back. I have taught before, in both Iran and Canada. While I was doing my undergraduate in computer science in Iran, I spent two years teaching computer instruction. This is when I started designing curriculums myself and feel that I did this creatively, making lessons interesting. Now in Canada, I have tutored part-time for two years while at XXX College, giving extra instruction to students and helping them with various academic study areas. This has helped keep my interest in teaching and my skills as a teacher practiced. XXX University is the only school I am applying to. No other school in Canada can offer me a better curriculum with such a refined scope. Also the list of faculty is very impressive and I am eager to work with such intelligent and highly educated people faculty and students who share my passion for computer science and engineering. The internship program would help me continue my co-op education, increasing my exposure in industry, and my understanding of new issues, research and challenges. I look forward to being a creative leader for future research in the field of computer science and engineering. Thank you for your time and consideration.

From the time I was introduced to the rudiments of Computer Science, I have excelled in the study of algorithms, programming languages and data processing. Artificial Intelligence (AI), renewed within me my passion for even more advanced, complex problem solving, and provided me with intense analysis, reasoning and deduction. I felt as though I had rediscovered my love of computer science with AI, but more than this, I was in awe of what AI could do and what it will do in the future. Continuing my pursuit of AI is more than a logical progression for my academic, professional and research experiences; it is the only natural choice given my sensibilities, ambitions, and indeed my dreams. Having spent the last six years as first a teaching assistant, then lecturer and subsequently Head of Quality Unit for the IT department XXX University, I have been inspired to pursue my Ph.D. Earning my Ph.D. in Computer Science will enable me to bring my aspirations to fruition, namely contributing to the future of the only field that has ever brought me the greatest fulfillment, through teaching tomorrow's researchers. As a professor, I will have ample opportunity and access to contemporary research, opportunities that will translate into practical, real world examples I can bring to life for my students. I bring with me to the Ph.D. Computer Science, AI program a solid academic foundation in Computer Applications and Computer Science, over a decade of conceptual continuity in academic and professional exposure in the field. Moreover, I bring my ability to adapt to new situations. Proof of my ability to adapt can be found in my having been assigned as Head of the Quality Unit in the IT Department immediately after earning my Masters. All of my classes had been conducted in English, despite Arabic being my native language, and even my job after college was an English-speaking workplace. The confidence to make such a successful transition likely stems from my intimate understanding of yet another language, namely Computer Science. Any future professor must have not only a proven academic track record, but also maturity, leadership ability and be self-reliant. Proof of my success in these areas can be found in my having conducted six senior honors group projects involving the development of application in software engineering, graphics design, C/C++, database and networks. My final year project involved developing a large web-based student monitoring system using PHP and MYSQL to streamline administration, increase parental involvement, and improve student performance by providing a window for parents, teachers and school administrators to interact and communicate with each other. Research has been a large part of my academic career, both in undergraduate and graduate education. While pursuing my Masters, I conducted five senior projects, in addition to one final project that covered different aspects of database and AI concepts. My first area of research was on client-server applications and HCI, in which I developed two java client applications. This was followed by my research focused on Mobile networks and WAP protocol, during which time I conducted two mobile applications and one WAP site. The last area of research I conducted utilized a XXX Based Stock System. The project itself involved gathering information about stock market indexes and funds from open source sites and then storing them in a multidimensional data warehouse; it was necessary to implement a new algorithm in order to gather and integrate the stock data. As a future professor, I feel that my international experiences will be a distinct advantage in the classroom. Having been educated, lived, worked and educated in XXX, the US and London, I have a worldview that is quite different from my academic peers, and I am able to interact effectively with many diverse people; combined with this is my ability to speak two languages fluently. As a result, I am able to speak confidently in front of groups of people. A future professor needs to be able to interact effectively with people of differing cultures. This is what I bring to the student body, as well, one in which I anticipate many opportunities for group assignments, teamwork and projects. Having spent a summer in London pursuing a course in IT quality, I was intrigued by my colleagues praise for and explanations of the Imperial College London. Researching the school further, I was struck by the breadth, autonomy and relevance of the Computer Science, AI curriculum. What is more, Imperial College's world ranking, a top-ten university, is reassuring of a superlative educational experience. I can think of no finer educational institution, more stalwart faculty from which I could ever be privileged to learn from and be guided, nor more accomplished student body to interact with. The prospect of a quality Computer Science education is incredibly exciting to me. This is my field, where I feel fulfilled and aim to leave my mark in. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I have always been fascinated by the wisdom of Albert Einstein who once said that: Logic will get you from A to B but imagination will take you everywhere. Knowing that no technological advancement can ever come to reality without the hard work and creative imagination of dedicated researchers, I look forward to giving my all to the advancement of my field of study, through imagination, creativity, and perseverance. The University of XXX at Champaign Urbana is my first choice for graduate study and it is my sincere hope as an Iranian man to contribute to and benefit from the international fellowship of your highly diverse academic community. During the last year, my research has been focused on the creation of the zonal and nodal wholesale electric power market of New England. The central part of my research is focused on modeling the development of renewable resources across the region and potential means to reduce clearing prices and production costs at the same time that a reduction of greenhouse gases and emission costs is also achieved. The main challenge that I face has been to consider the uncertainties that are inherent in projecting the underlying factors and key variables involved in the cost of electricity in the future. The complex interrelationships among these variables make the forecasting of long-term electricity costs a most challenging exercise, especially in light of the volatility of fuel prices volatility in today's world. I study various generation and transmission expansions and their combinations in order to arrive at a reasonable estimate of the range of likely electricity prices over the long term, taking into account the uncertainties of load forecasting and national and regional regulations regarding emission costs. New electric power market environments call for new measures of optimization and efficiency. One of the drawbacks of traditional optimization approaches to production cost minimization is that higher clearing prices for end users may still result even if production cost is minimized. Recent investigations into the Payment Minimization method have established that the minimization of clearing prices may indeed result in higher production costs. Admittedly, both methods have some merit according to the principles of social welfare maximization; however, I have found that neither of them is adequate for a full accounting of optimization methods for new market environments. For example, neither of these methods is able to adequately address the optimization problems of dependency on foreign oil and the need for greenhouse gas reduction. Of key interest here are the similarities between communication networks and power grids in terms of congestion management, deregulated pricing, and cost optimization, and I have been taking a critical look at how most of the studies published in this area have tended to overlook these similarities, thereby seeking to draw conclusions concerning how lessons learned regarding communication networks can be most effectively utilized in deregulated electric power markets. An examination of comparative communication market solutions, such as achieving Nash equilibrium in a non-cooperative environment, helps to shed light on the critical issues surrounding the utilization of power in markets in the future. The electric power market faces profound challenges with respect to the utilization of renewable energy resources: Solar energy is extremely expensive for any large scale generation plant. Wind resources are extremely difficult to dispatch due to the uncertainties of wind speed and direction, biomass resources are not economically competitive, and fuel cell units have major drawbacks in terms of unit durability. Moreover, we face profound challenges in terms of market structure and policy making, both of which are critical for the development of renewable energy resources. Infrastructure upgrade may be one of the most challenging issues facing the electric power market, especially for power transmission networks. Extensive transmission network upgrades are essential for massive transfer of power from the areas of the country with high availability of renewable resources especially wind to other areas. I find the analogy of the interstate highway system to be especially useful for understanding how the design of a transmission infrastructure upgrade system might not only reinforce the energy infrastructure but also stimulate the economy. During this past year, I have completed three different research projects on the subjects of multi-objective optimization in electric power markets, optimal biomass dispatch in New England, and meeting the energy needs of New England with transmission network expansion throughout the region. I have submitted two papers to IEEE Transaction on this issue of power delivery and will also soon submit the third one. A Chinese proverb says: A person shows what he is by what he does with what he has. During the last few years working in a business environment, all of my research has been carried out in research-unfriendly environments. I have not been surrounded by a group of trained investigators nor have I had easy access to libraries with vast resources, such as the one at U of I, which is essential for any research project. Nevertheless, I pressed on and have been defining my ongoing research on the basis of the problems that I see around me, looking for answers with the limited resources at my disposal. For me, hard work, extraordinary curiosity, scientific idealism, personal discipline, professional integrity, and hope, define who I am and where I am going with my research. I have an excellent track record of dedication to my education. I was ranked among the top 0.5% applicants among more than 130,000 applicants for state universities in an extremely competitive nation-wide entrance exam in my native Iran and graduated at the top of my class at XXX's University of Science and Technology in the Electrical Engineering Department, majoring in electric power. My graduate studies in the US began at XXX Polytechnic Institute. After the cultural shock of the first semester, I became a 4.0 student. While at Rensselaer, I also became employed full time at General Electric, yet continued to earn a 4.0 in all of my courses. We face enormous problems with respect to the future of our electric power industry. Thus, I appeal to your program so as to be able to utilize the vast resources of the U of I so that I will be in the best position to contribute to meeting these challenges. I will not weaken, tire, or be intimidated by the difficulties associated with the task at hand. President Kennedy once said: The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were. This is why I feel strongly that I am a strong candidate for admission to your program, because of the intensity and creativity of my imagination, drive, and determination to be among the best in my field.

I never learned time management skills from a book, or in a classroom; I learned them raising my two daughters and going to school full-time. The results speak for themselves: consistent superior academic performance, graduating in the upper echelon of my class, speaks of the seriousness with which I approach the academic process and my personal maxims for success. Overall, I have maintained almost a decade of conceptual continuity in my career and academics. In the XXX Army, I got my introduction to the field of electrical engineering when repairing and maintaining complex medical equipment systems. I was smitten with the work, and eager to learn more. Upon my honorable discharge, I immediately began my undergraduate study of electrical engineering. Indeed, my undergraduate experiences are leading perfectly into my planned graduate track. Just this past summer, I was able to participate in a Summer Research Experience for undergraduates that introduced us to the rudiments of unmanned air vehicle research, particularly tri-turbo fan airships. These vehicles are changing the way the military, police and other services conduct reconnaissance, communicate and more, making not only more cost-effective decisions, but potentially saving lives. What is more, this is an incredibly relevant research experience, one that I intend to pursue further in my graduate studies, as these vehicles increasingly require microprocessors that are faster and more efficient to perform at optimal levels. UT at XXX is my sole choice for further education. No other school will enable me to conduct the in-depth research into computer engineering that I intend to conduct, particularly focusing on issues of low power consumption, aiding me in my plans for designing microprocessors that can run at ultra-low power levels, and therefore faster processing speeds without overheating. Additionally, the incredible faculty and extensive state-of-the-art facilities at XXXX will allow me to research computer architecture, particularly embedded systems, with expert guidance. I bring with me academic experiences involving the study of microcomputers, embedded systems signals and robotics. This has cemented my belief that embedded processors are where my passion for research truly lies. For the future, I anticipate working in industry, leading innovate, cutting-edge research and development projects dealing with the design of super-fast, extremely power- efficient processors. As a Project Manager, I will be utilizing my military background, and the leadership skills developed, tested and proven in the clinical engineering division at the US Army Medical Materiel Center, Europe. In truth, it is my aim to ameliorate and facilitate the growth of entire societies by building better, more capable computers thinking machines - with an ever-watchful eye on the issues of sustainability and lower power consumption; to truly make a difference. Furthermore, having come from Bogota, Colombia, being raised, educated, and worked in five countries across three continents before I was twenty-three, not only am I bilingual, I have the ability to interact effectively with people of diverse backgrounds, from different walks of life and belief systems. In the industrial world, I anticipate leading multidisciplinary teams of professionals that come from myriad cultures, and given my own multinational experiences and background, I will be all the more effective. Moreover, my multicultural background and experiences are what I bring to the student body along with the ability to speak intelligently about the field of computer engineering. I am intent upon filling my time, my life, with being the best computer-engineering researcher possible. This is my field, the only field that has brought me the greatest level of personal and professional satisfaction, above any other discipline. There are countless opportunities in the field of computer engineering, and standing in the middle of it, one cannot see its edges. Through a position in a quality educational program, I can help make that field even larger. Your time and consideration is greatly appreciated and I eagerly await a personal interview.

In my professional career, I have found that I have exhausted every possible avenue of promotion and challenge at my current academic level. While I have extensive experience in many areas of Test Engineering, I crave the opportunity to advance, and engage in in-depth research work in the field that has brought me great satisfaction and fulfillment. Furthermore, it is my ambition to become a college professor, sharing my years of relevant industrial experiences and through a quality educational program, I will be able to bring this dream to fruition, guaranteeing the future of engineering as I reach burgeoning and bright minds. While there is a need for qualified professors to teach the basic principles of testing, there is a distinct industrial need to teach the basics in the context of older attitudes towards test engineering. The common misconception is that test engineering is costly, and causes delays for products production. I will go on to impress upon my students that test engineering must accommodate these concerns, to reduce the overall cost and time involved through better quality control procedures and streamlined protocols. In order to be an asset to the doctoral program, I have a solid academic foundation in electrical engineering, and have maintained two decades of conceptual continuity in my academics and career path. Graduating from schools such as Northwestern, and Berkley, my education has been thorough and stellar, and I have received accolades in my Test Engineering work. It is my hope that I may continue my academic relationship with Northwestern, and go on to serve their extended community as I have been served. Working in Test Engineering is one thing, but excelling is another. Any electrical engineer can work in the field, but it takes years of dedicated multidisciplinary teamwork and experience to take on the responsibility of guiding an organization, being able to envision product development, discuss testing concepts and standards from a philosophical standpoint, analyze a customer's needs, and develop the latest testing technology and processes. Fifteen years of practical experience has taught me that electrical engineers are frequently lacking in terms of management skills as it is simply not taught, and rather learned on the job. There needs to be a different approach, a systems approach, to managing and developing innovative test technology. One needs to look at the market picture in order to remain competitive. Just as an effective staff test engineer needs to be able to interact with and inspire their multidisciplinary teams, an effective principal engineer needs to take an interdisciplinary direction, and have an understanding of organizational boundaries and know when and how to lead across them successfully. To work in a management or leadership position, even that of a university professor, one needs to be able to interact well with people of differing backgrounds, belief systems and languages. Throughout my career, I have interacted effectively with many fellow scientists, yet, I feel due to my background, I have been all the more successful because of my heritage. I was a refugee from Viet Nam, fleeing the communist incursion of the 1980s, and taking refuge first in the Philippines and later the United States. While many speak of the need to be culturally competent, I have walked more than a mile in the immigrant's shoes, and have a world view that is more rounded than most. I feel that I am more sympathetic to the immigrant experience, to people of differing cultures, and especially those that yearn to advance themselves to the highest levels that they can. This is what I will bring to the workplace as well as the classroom, as a student and a future professor. While my research interest would increase the depth of my existing understanding of test program development, and writing scripts that enhance these programs, I feel that there is a great deal more that can be done in terms of developing methodologies of testing that are less cumbersome, and acknowledge the need to be interdisciplinary. Test engineering and the industrial issues involved go beyond the scope of the average engineering program. Northwestern is far from being average, and sets academic standards. I will bring with me to the program the understanding and standpoint that test engineering needs to have a management approach just as much as a technical approach. My extensive work history and educational successes are evidence of my ability, wisdom regarding the business and passion for the work that I have done and my commitment to the industry. While many engineers would choose to continue at one level, I feel a need to do more, to use my creativity and experience to help advance the field of Test Engineering. To become a principal engineer and a university professor are my dreams. And, yet, these dreams speak of something much more profound than simply wanting to be on the cutting-edge of the next biggest thing in test engineering. I want to go on to be a leader in my community, and in my profession. There is a need in me to ensure the future of the work that I have been involved in, and to touch the lives and minds of students wanting to make changes in their world, in a field that is only getting bigger every day. I thank you for your time, consideration and look forward to a personal interview.