Engineering Personal Statement Example 17

In a world that overwhelmingly recognizes climate change as a dangerous threat and has become wary of the shortcomings of fossil fuels and the fact that they’re depleting at an alarming rate, pressures are building on modern industry and businesses to become greener and more sustainable.

This would mean innovating new eco-friendly products and diversifying into new renewable energy sources.

Engineers would undoubtedly have an immense role in this new global challenge. Hence, my interest in both renewable energy and engineering made me realize that I could contribute significantly to a global crisis.

My interest and aptitude in science and mathematics have grown profusely over the past few years as I always seeked logical solutions to everyday problems and enjoyed taking up new challenges.

The curiosity that I had led me to investigate how things functioned , which often left me fascinated by the science, particularly physics, which lay hidden in the contraptions.

Engineering is a field which often paves the way for new discoveries through the large amount of research that it involves, which is what interests me the most.

Though I am aware of the patience, challenges and the amount of risk taking that confront engineers, I believe a career in engineering best suits my abilities and interests.

The subjects that I take at school only fuelled my motivation more. Studying mathematics and further mathematics helped me improve my problem solving skills and become more confident in taking up new challenges. I also learnt how certain branches of mathematics were involved in the world of engineering.

In studying chemistry, I was made aware of new concepts like green chemistry, kinetics and thermodynamics which would influence modern industry. It also made me think outside of the box as to how molecules behave. It made me think about the possibility of nuclear energy becoming a potential source of renewable energy.

Though biology may seem irrelevant to study for an engineering student, I was impressed at the knowledge it gave me about mechanisms used by different organisms in order to survive.

Sometimes, these mechanisms form the basis of how useful devices, such as aeroplanes function. It also provided me an insight to the impact of global warming on the world’s ecosystems.

This encouraged even more to work towards a solution. Physics, being one of my favourite subjects, greatly enhanced my knowledge by explaining the various phenomena surrounding us and how they could be used in order to accelerate the growth of technology. For example, how Newton’s laws of motion are used in rocket propulsion or how total internal reflection makes optical fibres useful in communications.

To further my interest and knowledge of both renewable energy and engineering, I spent over a month at the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority where I learnt about emerging technologies, particularly wind energy.

I became familiar with the way in which wind turbines function such as the aerodynamic principles of the rotor blades and how the blade speed is kept in check by pitch and yaw controls.

However, I also realised the increasingly important role of economics in engineering, (in this case how it influences the growth of the wind energy industry) how engineers try to minimize costs of transport, installation and materials while retaining efficiency of the system.

The authority also organized an energy exhibition where I got to do voluntary work and got a chance to educate the Sri Lankan public about simple ways to cut down electricity bills, greener household solutions and how to lead a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

Outside of my school curriculum, I am enthusiastic about learning new languages. I am already fluent in English and Sinhala while I can converse quite well in Norwegian and French. I recently began a beginner course in German at the Goethe Institut in Colombo.

I wish to learn more languages along with my engineering degree as I believe linguistic ability is an important skill for an engineer to have. This would increase my chances of employability and allow me to work in different countries.

To continually update my knowledge about science and technology, I often read science magazines such as National Geographic and New Scientist. This also exposes me to a range of new ideas allowing me to think in different ways and hopefully would benefit my future research work.

The standard of higher education and quality of research is the main reason I chose the UK to pursue my tertiary education. Having followed all academic work in English, I believe that I am competent enough to follow a degree course taught entirely in English.

After completing an Engineering degree, tooled with both the technical and interpersonal skills that I have gained at university, I am determined to make a significant contribution to scientific research, renewable energy in particular, to create a more energy secure future.