PERSONAL STATEMENT

An experienced engineer of security printing with China’s Central Bank, I now would like to scale higher intellectual heights by pursuing Ph. D. studies in mechanical engineering at your university. I believe that my strong background in CAD has adequately prepared me to embark on this endeavor.

I have been working since 1996 for the People’s Bank of China, a Chinese version of the Federal Reserve, at its unique research institute of security printing, with the responsibility of designing the Chinese currency and the machinery to produce it. By engaging me in a variety of projects, the job afforded me ample exposure to cutting-edge developments in computer technologies, particularly in CAD software. I have, for example, recently redeveloped a purchased CAD (Computer Aided Design) software to make it more suitable for our own purposes. By adding our own part/subassembly to the database and make our own drawing criteria, we have achieved dramatically better efficiency.

My job performance, which has won me professional respect from all of my colleagues, was achieved thanks to the strong background I acquired as a student in computer science. My undergraduate GPA ranked first among the 63 students of classmates in mechanical department, for which I was awarded first-class and second-class prizes many times. My graduate GPA ranked among the top 4% of the 105 students in my year, which won me the “San Hao” scholarship every year during the three years of my graduate studies.

Unlike many other Chinese students, who are content with performing well in exams, I made a point of learning through my own hands-on experiences. In the Master’s program at the Beijing Institute of Printing, I gained an in-depth understanding of artificial intelligence, including expert system and genetic algorithm, especially in neural network. For my thesis, I programmed a multi-level BP neural network with C language to analyze my mathematical model, and applied much of my knowledge in optimization. I thus became able to program with a host of different computer languages, especially C++, with which I helped my graduate advisor to design a paper-cutting machine. To analyze the mechanism statically and dynamically, I programmed a software system to analyze and emulate it on screen. In undergraduate studies, I had often programmed with Fortran77 and the Basic language.

Upon the completion of my Master’s studies, I easily passed the doctoral record examination in CAD/CAM of Beijing University, one f the top universities in China. But I gave up the opportunity in order to gain more practical experience in the industry. The decision proved to be right, as it guaranteed me better access to sophisticated facilities, such as state-of-the-art personal computers. With the People’s Bank of China, I have thus accumulated solid expertise in many kinds of operating and application software systems, particularly in CAD. I now have a firm grip on the latest developments in computer science in China.

The challenges I met and the successes I achieved at the People’s Bank have not only endowed me with confidence but also fired off my desire to further improve myself. I have enjoyed high-quality and efficient production with the use of a kind of PC-based CAD software, MDT, developed by Autodesk Corporation. I now have a dream: some day, every person can design his favorite product with some sort of CAD software, and then search for an ideal factory over high-speed internet its production; and the factory will put specifications of the product, as it has received them via the high-speed internet into its CIMS, and out pops the product, as designed, at the end of the factory’s production line. It is a beautiful dream for every engineer, but many difficulties the speed of data-transfer and how to manage the product data among CAD, CAM, CAPP and CAE systems. These questions are fascinating, and I would like to come up with my own answers to them.

To prepare myself for advanced studies in your country, I have persisted in improving my English proficiency. As demonstrated by my score of 700 (96%) in the verbal section of GRE, I now have an adequate command of English for undertaking graduate studies in your program.

After carefully comparing the strengths of many universities, I find Mercy University particularly suited for my purpose. It has got the best combination of quality faculty, many state-of-the-art facilities, and an intriguing academic environment. Currently, China still lags significantly behind Western countries in mechanical engineering. I hope that, with a few years of graduate studies under your seasoned guidance, I will be able to return to my motherland and help bring mechanical engineering in my country to international standards.

Although my ultimate objective is a Ph. D. degree, I am willing to do a Master’s degree if necessary. In either case, I would like to concentrate my studies in one or a combination of the following areas: CAD, CAM, CIMS, Computer graphics, Mechanical design, Mechanical manufacturing, Optimization, Artificial intelligence, and Robotics. Your favorable evaluation of my application will be highly appreciated.