Engineering Personal Statement Example 29

We are about to embark on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and I want to be at the forefront of it. Impressive developments in everything from nanotechnology to autonomous vehicles are going to shape the future for all of us, and as an engineer I hope to be able to improve the lives of millions.

I have always had a profound interest in what the future might have in store for us and reading ‘The Industries of the Future’ by Alec Ross highlighted the need for highly skilled engineers, epitomised by the statistic that there will be a shortfall of over 2 million nurses for the elderly by 2025 in Japan alone.

It is our responsibility as engineers to solve a problem like this by designing specialist robots who can do the same job as the nurses. I believe that I have the skills and passion to be able to help in such instances.

I also find electronics particularly interesting, so, when I went for 2 weeks of work experience at Pure, I was delighted to be put into the lab to work with the hardware team. I was tasked with taking apart speakers and modifying the PCBs so that they were ready to be taken to an electronics exhibition in Berlin.

This experience was invaluable for me because, as well as developing teamwork and communication skills, I also learned new skills such as surface mount soldering, crimping and using enamel wire. The practical aspect of the work reaffirmed to me that engineering is right for me.

As part of my schools Engineering Education Scheme (EES) team, I was elected project manager. Our task, sponsored by BP, was to design a transit vibration monitoring tool and managing the project helped me develop my organisation and delegation skills.

Additionally, I took a lead role in designing the electronics for our product. We attached a thermal probe and accelerometer to a Raspberry Pi and I programmed these, using Python, to work simultaneously.

The Pi would constantly compare the outputs from the probe and accelerometer against predetermined values to see if they had been exceeded, indicating shock or extreme temperatures.

Through participation in this scheme, I achieved the CREST Gold Award and Industrial Cadets Gold Award. One thing I thoroughly enjoyed on my work experience and whilst working on our EES project was problem solving. I learnt that with technically complex projects you will encounter issues every step of the way, and finding a solution is incredibly rewarding.

Another passion of mine is sailing – I love how tactical and technical it can be. The design of dinghies is fascinating, with each boat meticulously crafted to be aerodynamic and hydrodynamic for optimum performance.

The primary material of choice in many sailing dinghies is fibreglass, a material I researched in some depth as part of a physics project. When sailing, I relish the challenge of, for example, maintaining a flat boat to reduce the wetted surface area of the hull, decreasing drag and consequently increasing velocity.

My sailing partner and I compete in the National Schools Sailing Association National Regatta each year and our best finish was 4th in our fleet in 2017.

I have also been a member of the Scouting Association from a very young age and I am currently an Explorer; I particularly enjoy activities like pioneering and raft building.

Additionally, I volunteered at my local charity bookshop for 3 years and was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service last year. Within school I was appointed a Senior Prefect and I also run the Maths in Motion club, a competition in which a friend and I were crowned Secondary School World Champions in 2015.

At my school’s Prize Giving, I was given the Physics award and the ‘Stephen Shipperley Award for Enterprise and Innovation’ in Year 12 in addition to the Design Technology award in Year 10

I believe that my abilities mean that I am perfectly suited to studying engineering at university and I am excited to see where a challenging degree will take me.