Biomedical Engineering SOP Sample for UK Masters Applicants

Statement of Purpose

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves." ― William Shakespeare

Some people discover their talent early in life, others are gradually molded through education, aspirations and ambition. Then there are people like me whose path is revealed to them through life itself, and is perhaps preordained as well. My path was revealed to me through loss, from the death of a close relative from an accident and then the loss of 5-year-old cousin because of cancer much later. Both these events developed in me strong desire to work in space devoted to saving lives. With this purpose and my penchant for the sciences, it was only natural that I chose my field of study at the confluence of medicine and engineering: I decided to pursue an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering.

My undergraduate studies further fueled my desire to understand how things work and to be able to break down complex phenomenon into its most basic elements. In my first year of engineering, I quickly became an unofficial Teaching Assistant. This involved teaching complex concepts to my classmates in addition to giving several technical lectures and seminar-like sessions in the classroom. One of the lectures I conducted was on EMG monitoring systems which also had an enormous impact on my thesis and project development. The grades I received from the college on my major project are a testament to my skill and perseverance as both a student and a mentor.

While I always strived to do well academically, I also laid equal emphasis on the well-rounded growth of my personality, participating in a range of extra-curricular activities over the years. In my junior year, I helped organize and coordinate an extremely successful national-level inter-college event hosted by my college. I was also a part of the organizing committee for several other events including an inter-college model UN. Being of an inquisitive bent of mind, and ever ready to gain additional knowledge, I attended and organized several national conferences, and national technical symposiums. I volunteered in the National Conference on Advances and Challenges in Biomedical and Health Informatics Research held by the Department of Biomedical Engineering, [UNIVERSITY], [CITY]. The conference was about biomedical and health informatics, including those in the areas of biomedical signal processing, biomechanics, etc.

Over the years, I've had some internships that allowed to pursue my passion and learn skills for the same. The first notable internship was with [HOSPITAL] in a Biomedical management function. My job was to create an inventory for all the medical equipment in the hospital, partner with the technical team to assess their working condition, as well as ensure all the contractual information was feed closely together with the equipment inventory. My second internship was with the [HOSPITAL] in a similar role.

I have worked on several interesting projects over the years. One of them involved the creation of EMG-based home appliances for partially paralyzed people. This was accomplished with the help of the EMG muscle sensor RKi2401 with the motion sensor replacing the remote control, designed specifically to help partially paralyzed people, giving them a measure of independence and concomitant dignity. I previously published this thesis at the IEEE. Another project that comes to mind is the EMG Embedded system for controlling the patient bed. The motivation behind the project is that partially paralytic patients require assistance in their daily lives and this assistance is provided by a caregiver or health care worker. This motivated us to invent a hospital bed based on EMG that minimizes the need for a caregiver for the partially paralyzed patient. The lack of movement of the partially paralytic patient increases the chances for bedsores. To avoid such discomfort the EMG-based Hospital bed is provided with vibration motors so that there is constant circulation of blood in the body. My knowledge of signal processing was not sufficiently in-depth at the outset to carry out the project, but I was able to acquire the skills needed to develop the project. In the future, this technique can be used to replace the whole manually controlled system in industries and risk environments with human muscle and body control. This short stint has given me an invaluable enriching experience to implement practical skills and knowledge. This project further boosted my confidence and passion to pursue a Master's degree in Biomedical engineering from [UNIVERSITY].

UK leads much of the research in this field and has access to the best research facilities and faculty. The quality of education in [UNIVERSITY] is top notch and the environment is conducive for innovation. Moreover, universities in the UK will give me the necessary exposure and rigor that is required in this field. I also believe that moving to a new country will change my outlook and augment my personal growth. UK's multicultural environment, the rich tradition of science and discovery, are all reasons why I am keen to pursue a degree from there. I believe that my work experience combined with my completed and ongoing projects is enough evidence to demonstrate my dedication to my future studies. I would be privileged to be accepted into your prestigious University.