SOP Sample for MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering in US

Statement of Purpose

It all started with an AC generator. When I completed my 12th board exam and was still trying to figure out what program to choose for my undergraduate studies, my younger sister came to me seeking help to build an AC generator for her school science fair project. As I started making a small prototype of it, I failed many times as it was not as easy as it's shown in YouTube videos. After a lot of trials, I finally built the prototype, and that brought me a pleasant joy which felt very natural when it lighted up the LED from the generated power. And this is how I decided to pursue a career in Electrical and Electronics Engineering to put my creativity to build and innovate many such things in the future.

From then on, I started my undergrad engineering journey where I started to build some more complex prototypes, and one such that I built in my initial days of college was the women safety glove, for which I even won 2nd place in the inter-department paper presentation competition. This was a very big motivation as it encouraged me to compete in many other competitions. And nevertheless, I competed in as many competitions as I can. I have been the finalist in many competitions but never won during my undergrad, this made me feel disappointed at times but I still never gave up and always kept my passion for innovation high as I completely love the process of innovating things more than anything else.

In the same period, my college offered an embedded design course from [ORGANIZATION] (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) for selected students who were interested in embedded systems and I was one among them. I took the course as [ORGANIZATION] is a government organization like [ORGANIZATION] which developed the first supercomputer for India and getting taught by experts of the organization was something that I couldn't miss. During the training period, we were taught about the Linux Operating system, different ARM architecture, development tools like Micro Keil, and concepts of embedded systems where we practically implemented the concepts like semaphore, pipelining, message queue, etc. in a Linux environment. It felt very interesting to me as I could see how internally the computer processes our command and how I was able to communicate and command the computer in my way. Therefore at the end of the course, the embedded system domain became my area of interest as I wanted to learn and experience more interesting concepts of it.

During the final year of my undergrad, many of my classmates were trying to get themselves different jobs and getting placed in companies. It was then I thought of getting myself placed in a multinational company concerning my domain so that I can see how the bigger picture works and I've always wanted to know what industries like [COMPANY], [COMPANY], [COMPANY], etc. do that makes them a pioneer in innovation. And finally, I got placed in one such company, [COMPANY], as an Associate Software Engineer, developing Brake system software for 2 years now. In my initial days of work, I spent most of my time learning the engineering concepts and processes involved in my role as I was assigned the role of handling ABS (Antilock Braking System) function which is the main function of the brake system software that plays a major role in active safety of the vehicle. Therefore, I had dedicated quality time to ensure that doing work with quality becomes a habit rather than an act.

In this phase of professional life, I became comfortable with my current job role within a year and started exploring other opportunities in my workplace where I started sharing my ideas to different people in the workplace and competed in competitions as a team within my organization. But this time, I could see that my idea was more refined as my thought process became more mature over time because of the professional experience that I have gained till now. Therefore, it resulted in me securing 3rd place in Ideathon conducted at an organizational level, for my project idea "Clear View Visor" which was based on image processing technique where the idea was to display the outside view clearly to the driver in the visor by eliminating flashy sunlight, rain droplets, and high beam light which causes disturbance to the driver while driving. This idea of mine was later forwarded for patenting process but since it was more of an application and the similar concept was already piloted by another department in [COMPANY] called "Virtual Visor" which was also showcased at [EVENT] 2019. Our idea never made it to a product, still, I am happy that my idea was something very close to an idea that was showcased at a global event like [EVENT] 2019.

It was time that I thought to level up my skill in embedded systems such that I can innovate something big as I daily use to see smartphone technology from [COMPANY], [COMPANY], [COMPANY], [COMPANY], etc. revolutionizing every year where the processor is becoming more small and powerful while the software is becoming more intelligent and mature for the hardware. It's just that embedded systems are becoming more advanced and powerful enough like a general-purpose computer. Thrilled to see such scale of innovation happening around the world and the future scope that embedded system is yet to bring, I decided to pursue my master's in this domain as I wanted to explore more of its potential in various other areas where I can put my knowledge to develop a better system.

After discussing with the alumni of your university, I believe the graduate program at [UNIVERSITY] stands as a perfect match for my interest. The curriculum set for Electrical and Computer Engineering excites me and I am confident that it will provide me with the expertise that I need. Through this course, I want to specialize in embedded system and want to innovate something new.

In light of my earnest interest and passion for innovation, I hope you will see me as an enthusiastic candidate to study at your university. And with my dedicated efforts, I will assure you that I will prove to be an outstanding student in your program.