Statement of Purpose

I am presently a Senior Undergraduate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan. I am applying for the Master’s program in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. The transition from being an undergraduate to being part of a research team has been a significant paradigm shift, something that I’ve come to appreciate. With this new perspective, I believe the decision to apply for a Master’s degree is appropriate to further my interests for a career in research. In particular, I want to work in the broad field of Control Systems and Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS). My interest in machines encouraged me to take up Science in high school.In the 12th grade, I designed a special bicycle which could move a short distance without having to pedal when a certain amount of force was applied to the center of gravity of the seat- the center of gravity of the bicycle. The idea won the 1st Prize in the annual Inter-School Science-Talent Competition. In 2006, I first visited Dayeh University in Taiwan, where my mother is a professor. Here I came across some interesting automotive projects in the ME department. I worked under Prof. C.C.Liang on his research aiming to design the smallest beach car in the world over the same summer. Later, even with certain practical issues like me being the only foreign student in an all Chinese class, I decided to apply for my bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and learned Chinese as well in the process. Eventually I was admitted by Prof. Liang in the Impact Dynamics Lab. For the first two years I held Department Rank 1 and was offered a full scholarship for the same. The coming Fall, I transferred to National Taipei University of Technology (NTUT), one of the best technological institutions in Taiwan. I was the first student to be admitted in the 3rd year (as transfers could be made only in the 2nd year, as per the university policy). Here I came across excellent