Personal Statement
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Bearing in mind my academic background, interests and capabilities, I desire to pursue graduate study in Computer Science leading to a doctoral degree at Pennsylvania State University (University Park). I am a final year student of Computer Science at a premier engineering school - Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India.
Research interests: The mathematically rigorous curriculum at BITS, coupled with my interests, provides an ideal setting for me to pursue research in Theoretical Computer Science. My research interests include - randomized and approximation algorithms, combinatorial optimization, complexity, parallel algorithms, graph theory, number theory, and allied areas of cryptography and quantum computation.
Career goals: I aspire to build a career in academia by joining as a faculty member in a reputed university. My assistance in coursework design (for Theory of Computation and Pattern Recognition) and as a TA(for Data Structures & Algorithms, and Operating Systems) have provided me with the requisite experience in this arena. The task of designing assignment problems and preparing expository notes was a revelation, as it enabled me to view the same subjects from a different perspective. Based on the knowledge gained through the teaching assistantship for Operating Systems, I partially implemented an OS (thread synchronization, memory management) on the lines of the Minix and Nachos systems.
Project experience: My projects in Theoretical Computer Science and other areas have provided me with a sound knowledge of theoretical as well as practical aspects of Computer Science.
In graph theory, I worked on an algebraic, randomized algorithm for maximum matching of non-bipartite graphs (relying on the works of Mucha-Sankowski and Harvey). Further, I studied on matroid intersection and the bipartite matroid matching problem and gained a sound understanding of combinatorial optimization and randomization
Bearing in mind my academic background, interests and capabilities, I desire to pursue graduate study in Computer Science leading to a doctoral degree at Pennsylvania State University (University Park). I am a final year student of Computer Science at a premier engineering school - Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India.
Research interests: The mathematically rigorous curriculum at BITS, coupled with my interests, provides an ideal setting for me to pursue research in Theoretical Computer Science. My research interests include - randomized and approximation algorithms, combinatorial optimization, complexity, parallel algorithms, graph theory, number theory, and allied areas of cryptography and quantum computation.
Career goals: I aspire to build a career in academia by joining as a faculty member in a reputed university. My assistance in coursework design (for Theory of Computation and Pattern Recognition) and as a TA(for Data Structures & Algorithms, and Operating Systems) have provided me with the requisite experience in this arena. The task of designing assignment problems and preparing expository notes was a revelation, as it enabled me to view the same subjects from a different perspective. Based on the knowledge gained through the teaching assistantship for Operating Systems, I partially implemented an OS (thread synchronization, memory management) on the lines of the Minix and Nachos systems.
Project experience: My projects in Theoretical Computer Science and other areas have provided me with a sound knowledge of theoretical as well as practical aspects of Computer Science.
In graph theory, I worked on an algebraic, randomized algorithm for maximum matching of non-bipartite graphs (relying on the works of Mucha-Sankowski and Harvey). Further, I studied on matroid intersection and the bipartite matroid matching problem and gained a sound understanding of combinatorial optimization and randomization