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Sample:
Statement Of Purpose
Sample
SOP's
Product
Design
The
Product Design Program Applicant admitted to Stanford
Write a brief statement concerning both your past work in your
intended field of study and related fields, your plans for
graduate study at Stanford, and your subsequent career plans. As
this is an important part of your application, please describe the
relevance of your past work and future intentions to the program
for which you are applying.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
One evening in xxxx, as I was strolling on the deck of the
Motor Tanker X, where I was serving as Chief Engineer, I came upon
the anchor which had been heaved up the day before, when we set
sail the across the Atlantic. A thrill ran through me, as the
anchor had brought up with it loamy clay of the finest quality. I
picked up a bucket load of this clay and hauled it off to my cabin
to model into a sculpture, a favorite hobby of mine when I was
ashore on leave. I enjoyed making that particular sculpture so
much, first building a metal skeleton using various tools from the
engineer’s workshop, I decided that if there was a career which
could integrate engineering acumen and artistic creativity
together, that would be the career I would be most happy pursuing.
But over the years, I had come to believe that these two were
disparate and irreconcilable interests and that one could only be
pursued at the expense of the other, at least as far as a career
was concerned. It was only when I came across the Product Design
course description as offered at Stanford University, that it
became evident to me this need not be necessarily so.
I always had a keen interest in the study of Mathematics & the
Engineering Sciences, and was always among the top three students
in class. On passing out of Higher Secondary School, I was awarded
a Certificate of Merit from the Government of India for achieving
a score within the top one percent of students all over India that
year in Physics. This predilection for Applied Science &
Engineering led me to the study Marine Engineering for my
Bachelor’s degree, so that I could work with large, powerful and
varied machinery in a single capsule unit, aboard a ship. At
engineering college, I secured the first rank in Academics during
the final two years of study. I was also awarded the Gold Medal
from the Office of the President of India for all-round excellence
and possessing qualities likely to make the Finest Marine Engineer
from my batch.
Having completed 10 years of active service last year as a Marine
Engineer aboard X ocean-going tanker vessels, with about 2 years
in the capacity of Chief Engineer, I had gained a large amount of
hands-on, practical knowledge of marine & mechanical
engineering systems, such as IC engines, steam & gas turbine
machinery, cargo handling hydraulic systems, centrifugal pumping
and purifying systems, advanced unmanned automation & control
systems, etc. But I aspired to go beyond being a maintenance
engineer to a design engineer, and realized I needed to gain a
more research-based, theoretical foundation to complement my
practical experience. I applied to and was admitted into the
Master of Science degree program in Ocean Engineering at the
University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley, I was introduced
to modern theory and practice of ship design and was specially
fascinated by the field of Structural Reliability as applied to
ship design. My final research project was the preparation of a
report for a Reliability-based guideline, converting the
deterministic Rules for determining structural scantlings for
steel ships currently being applied by the American Bureau of
Shipping, City, State. XX is a leading Ship Classification
Society, a governing body that establishes and administers
standards for the design, construction, and operational
maintenance of marine vessels and structures. I am currently
employed as a Ship Structural Engineer at XX, working on
structural plan reviews for new buildings and creating Finite
Element Models for analyzing dynamic and static loads on ships.
Yet, all through these years as a professional engineer, I fueled
my passion for Art by devoting almost every moment of my leisure,
at home and on board ship, to painting or sculpture or to the
study of fine art. I created numerous paintings in oil and
gouache, and many sculptures in clay, continually honing my
creativity and artistic skill. I won many awards and prizes for
painting and sketching at the school and inter-collegiate level.
Although I could not find the time to learn painting in a formal
art course, I have read extensively on various subjects in art and
learned further by copying many works of great Masters such as
Michelangelo, the pre-Raphaelite painters, and some ancient Indian
Masters in Sculpture. I did finally realize a long-standing desire
to study art formally when I did an intensive summer course in
drawing at Berkeley.
The Product Design Course, especially in the form it is being
offered at Stanford University, jointly by the departments of
Mechanical Engineering and Art, seems to me to be the most
perfectly suited to my dream of forging these two diverse
interests of mine into a fulfilling new career. Though I have had
no formal training in design, I have found that I could come up
with innovative and original ideas for solutions to various
problems faced during my career at sea, such as designing new
types of tools for machinery maintenance, more efficient methods
of overhaul or more effective automation systems. At leisure too,
I have always enjoyed designing and building models, be they a set
of rotating water fountains for ship-board decoration or a stable
painting easel from the limited material available on board or
architectural sketches for my future home.
I have also worked with keen interest in computer-based simulation
models and training aids my father is currently involved in
developing. I have designed numerous models for his company
demonstrating lesson plans for the functioning of various
mechanical systems such as principles of IC engines, fuel
injection and fire detection systems etc., using software such as
3D Studio and Macromedia Director. I am currently engaged in
developing a web-site for showcasing an exquisitely beautiful
temple complex in Southern India, called X.
While I was studying at UC Berkeley, I had the opportunity of
visiting the Stanford University campus and meeting with Professor
Y of Design Division. He was very appreciative of my art portfolio
and on his advice I visited the Design Loft on campus, which has
left a lasting impression on me. There was a charged atmosphere of
creativity in that room and it seemed ideas would almost shape
themselves out in that melee of materials and tools and half-built
models.
I am sure that formally studying Product Design can channelize my
capabilities and enable me to come up with functionally efficient
and aesthetically pleasing designs especially in the field of
household consumer products and electronics. I would consider it
an honor if I could study at Stanford University and assure you
that I will put in my utmost effort into this domain.
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