STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Section 1, addresses your goals

Can be degree goals, research topic goals or career choice goals. Give explanations for your
goals. End this paragraph by linking this to the next paragraph by saying that my goals are
fueled by the collaborative experiences.

Section 2, addresses why

Why set the above goals. What experiences made you set your goals. What have you done to
prepare yourself for your goals.

MENTORS/ADVISORS

What mentors/advisors have influenced your goals? How did they influence your goals? These
mentors/advisors may include professors, other professionals, or family members.

FAMILY EXPERIENCES

What family experiences have influenced your goals? e.g. deaths, divorces, wars, violence,
poverty, successes, failures; How did they influence your goals?

TECHNICAL SEMINARS

What technical seminars have influenced your goals? How did they influence your goals?

PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES

What professional conferences (e.g. ASME, IEEE, ASEE, SWE, SHPE, etc.) have influenced your
goals? How did they influence your goals?

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

What professional organization activities have influenced your goals? How did they influence
your goals?

CAREER PLANNING SEMINARS

What career planning seminars have influenced your goals? How did they influence your goals?

COURSEWORK

What coursework has influenced your goals? How did they influence your goals?
RESEARCH PROJECTS

What research projects have influenced your goals? How did they influence your goals?

PUBLICATIONS

Do you have any publications (e.g. conference papers, articles, reports) that have influenced
your goals? How did they influence your goals?

BOOKS, PAPERS, ARTICLES, THESES, REPORTS

What works in the literature has influenced your goals? How did they influence your goals?

WORK EXPERIENCE/INTERNSHIPS

What work experiences/internships have influenced your goals? How did they influence your
goals?

TUTORING/GRADING

What tutoring/grading experiences have influenced your goals? How did they influence your
goals?

COMMUNITY SERVICE

What community service experiences have influenced your goals? How did they influence your
goals?

Section 3, addresses future plans

FUTURE PLANS. The next section of the statement should answer:

What do you plan to do in order to meet your goals?

Toward this end, you may have paragraphs addressing some (not necessarily all!!) of the
following – explaining how each will move you forward toward accomplishing your stated goals.

AREA OF RESEARCH

You would be great if you could describe your planned area of research. What problem(s) do
you wish to address? Try to give some technical specifics here. Show that you have some
technical muscle. It is important to show that you have given thought about the problem(s) you
wish to address. Explain why your problem(s) is (are) important. Explain what are some of the
critical open issues. Try to explain (if you can) what your approach will be and why it is
worthwhile. Keep in mind that multidisciplinary research is highly regarded these days because
innovation often occurs at the boundaries of disciplines.

FINANCING: FELLOWSHIPS, RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP, TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIP

How do you plan on financing your graduate education? Are you applying for fellowships? If so
which?

Do you want a research assistantship? If you have some research experience that could help
with this.

Do you want a teaching assistantship? If you have some teaching experience that could help
you with this.

RESEARCH ADVISOR(S)

Who would you like to work with? Why? Have you spoken with them? A yes here could prove
helpful, particularly if there was useful advice and a follow up discussion.

Section 4, summary

SUMMARY. The final section of the statement is the last paragraph. It should summarize why
you should be the one selected. In short, you need to convey that your past collective
experiences have prepared you well to execute your future plans.

CONCLUSION. I understand that some of the above may have created more questions for you
than I have answered. If this is the case, please feel free to speak with me or with some of your
other mentors.

Logically organized and coherent (story with explanations)

Have a concrete plan on what you want to do.

Since inception, combustion of fuels is the primary means of generating energy for human
endeavors. The ever increasing demand of energy, depleting fossil fuels and increasing
pollution calls for innovations in combustion technology. The desire to create sustainable
energy source together with the challenges it poses is what drives my passion in this field.
Coupled with my academics and research experience has sparked my determination to pursue
higher studies in Mechanical Engineering in the field of Combustion.

Because of my curiosity in automobiles, I joined Formula SAE team of IIT Kanpur, where we
design and built formula style race cars. I was a member of powertrain subsystem where I had
ample opportunities to expand my knowledge on understanding the working of IC engines. I
had my first acquaintance of optimizing the performance of IC engines when I optimized Intake
and exhaust of KTM500 EXC engine for maximum power and torque incorporating a 20mm
throat de Laval nozzle in the intake. During the design process, I interacted a lot with professors
and PhD students working in the area of Engine combustion and Fluid mechanics. This helped
me develop an understanding of scientific method to investigate and solve a given
phenomenon. At the same time, I registered for a UG level elective course on IC engines which
augmented my understating of IC engines. After obtaining a range of values for variables from
computational optimization, we performed engine testing in the Engine Research Lab at IIT
Kanpur, under the guidance of Prof. Avinash Kr. Agarwal with variable length intake and
exhaust aimed at improving the power-torque characteristic curve of the engine. With the
optimized configuration, we participated in Formula Student India’16, organized by delta INC in
collaboration with SAE International. Out of 50 teams, we secured 6th place in Design event
and an overall 8th position and our car was one of the lightest car with an overall weight of 180
kg. With the sense of achievement and curiosity to learn more, I registered for a PG level
elective course on Engine Combustion and Air Pollution taught by Prof. Avinash Kr. Agarwal. As
a part of this course, I learned about different phenomena occurring inside combustion
chamber during combustion process like fuel vaporization, air-fuel mixing, flame kernel growth
and flame front propagation in SI engine and spray combustion in CI engine. We were also
taught about formation mechanism, harmful effects and control of NOx, CO, HC and soot from
IC engines. Prof. Agarwal taught us about experiments methods done to study combustion
process like optical engine, PIV, FID. As a part of my own interest, I studied research papers on
engine emission and control which introduced me to the concept of low temperature
combustion and bio-fuels. My independent efforts along with the experience and knowledge I
gained from projects and courses have given me a wide perspective of the area and reinforced
my belief that low temperature combustion combined with bio-fuels can transform IC engines
into sustainable source of energy.

At the end of my third year, I was fortunate enough to have been selected for a sponsored
research internship at Texas A&M University through TAMU-IITK student exchange. It was an
immensely enriching experience to be involved in research at such a premier institution while
interacting with many top researchers. Dr. Parth P. Mukherjee mentored me in my work where
we aimed to develop a numerical lumped capacitance heat transfer model for Li-ion battery to
study its thermal abuse tolerance when subjected to abuse conditions like high ambient
temperature and poor cooling conditions. Experiments for the abuse test of battery becomes
very costly and time consuming because of the high number of variables available like battery
dimensions, battery materials, cooling conditions and also, in experiments, it is not possible to
detect the exact reason for the battery failure. This numerical model will enable manufacturers
to tackle the situation of performing experiments. The results of the numerical model
simulations were validated with available experimental data in literature. From simulations it
was observed that cathode reaction is a major factor contributing to thermal runaway of
battery. Also by studying effect of time varying ambient temperature it was found that by
increasing the rate of increase of ambient temperature both the critical temperature for
thermal runaway and the maximum battery temperature are increased. This work was a great
learning experience for me in the methodology of conducting valuable research and also
reinforced my belief about the impact that coming up with a good idea and implementing it can
have. Research experience at TAMU combined with my previous knowledge of Engine
Combustion is what propelled me for graduate studies in the area of combustion.

I do not aim to pursue a PhD degree as an end in itself but rather feel that it is an essential step
towards a research career. An active research group with experienced mentors and motivated
colleagues would be instrumental in my gaining the maximum from my graduate studies. My
search for such a program and a strong research culture has driven me to apply for a PhD as a
part of the Engine Research Laboratory at. In particular, I have found the works of A/Prof
Shawn Kook most interesting. The diverse nature of Prof. Kook’s work in the field of engine
combustion and bio-fuels would provide ample opportunities to contribute towards a cleaner
combustion system.

What began as a curiosity in automobiles has, over the past years developed into something I
have a passionate desire to follow. My aspirations for a research career in Engine Combustion
are further fuelled by the fact that it is an intellectually challenging area with significant impact
on our society and future generations. With my research experiences and academic record, I
strongly believe that I would be successful both as a graduate students as well as an
independent researcher. Given a chance, I believe that my research aptitude, keen interest and
enthusiasm to find solutions to overcome challenges, will enable me to add value to my
research group and I look forward to being a part of the one at University of New South Wales.