Sample Statement of Purpose for Product Design
Statement by a student from India (12/2002)
The Product Design Program Applicant admitted to Stanford
Write a brief statement concerning
both your past work in your intended field of study and related
fields, your plans for graduate study at Stanford, and your
subsequent career plans. As this is an important part of your
application, please describe the relevance of your past work and
future intentions to the program for which you are applying.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
One evening in xxxx, as I was strolling on the deck of the Motor
Tanker X, where I was serving as Chief Engineer, I came upon the
anchor which had been heaved up the day before, when we set sail the
across the Atlantic. A thrill ran through me, as the anchor had
brought up with it loamy clay of the finest quality. I picked up a
bucket load of this clay and hauled it off to my cabin to model into
a sculpture, a favorite hobby of mine when I was ashore on leave. I
enjoyed making that particular sculpture so much, first building a
metal skeleton using various tools from the engineer’s workshop, I
decided that if there was a career which could integrate engineering
acumen and artistic creativity together, that would be the career I
would be most happy pursuing. But over the years, I had come to
believe that these two were disparate and irreconcilable interests
and that one could only be pursued at the expense of the other, at
least as far as a career was concerned. It was only when I came
across the Product Design course description as offered at Stanford
University, that it became evident to me this need not be
necessarily so.
I always had a keen interest in the study of Mathematics & the
Engineering Sciences, and was always among the top three students in
class. On passing out of Higher Secondary School, I was awarded a
Certificate of Merit from the Government of India for achieving a
score within the top one percent of students all over India that
year in Physics. This predilection for Applied Science & Engineering
led me to the study Marine Engineering for my Bachelor’s degree, so
that I could work with large, powerful and varied machinery in a
single capsule unit, aboard a ship. At engineering college, I
secured the first rank in Academics during the final two years of
study. I was also awarded the Gold Medal from the Office of the
President of India for all-round excellence and possessing qualities
likely to make the Finest Marine Engineer from my batch.
Having completed 10 years of active service last year as a Marine
Engineer aboard X ocean-going tanker vessels, with about 2 years in
the capacity of Chief Engineer, I had gained a large amount of
hands-on, practical knowledge of marine & mechanical engineering
systems, such as IC engines, steam & gas turbine machinery, cargo
handling hydraulic systems, centrifugal pumping and purifying
systems, advanced unmanned automation & control systems, etc. But I
aspired to go beyond being a maintenance engineer to a design
engineer, and realized I needed to gain a more research-based,
theoretical foundation to complement my practical experience. I
applied to and was admitted into the Master of Science degree
program in Ocean Engineering at the University of California,
Berkeley. At Berkeley, I was introduced to modern theory and
practice of ship design and was specially fascinated by the field of
Structural Reliability as applied to ship design. My final research
project was the preparation of a report for a Reliability-based
guideline, converting the deterministic Rules for determining
structural scantlings for steel ships currently being applied by the
American Bureau of Shipping, City, State. XX is a leading Ship
Classification Society, a governing body that establishes and
administers standards for the design, construction, and operational
maintenance of marine vessels and structures. I am currently
employed as a Ship Structural Engineer at XX, working on structural
plan reviews for new buildings and creating Finite Element Models
for analyzing dynamic and static loads on ships.
Yet, all through these years as a professional engineer, I fueled my
passion for Art by devoting almost every moment of my leisure, at
home and on board ship, to painting or sculpture or to the study of
fine art. I created numerous paintings in oil and gouache, and many
sculptures in clay, continually honing my creativity and artistic
skill. I won many awards and prizes for painting and sketching at
the school and inter-collegiate level. Although I could not find the
time to learn painting in a formal art course, I have read
extensively on various subjects in art and learned further by
copying many works of great Masters such as Michelangelo, the
pre-Raphaelite painters, and some ancient Indian Masters in
Sculpture. I did finally realize a long-standing desire to study art
formally when I did an intensive summer course in drawing at
Berkeley.
The Product Design Course, especially in the form it is being
offered at Stanford University, jointly by the departments of
Mechanical Engineering and Art, seems to me to be the most perfectly
suited to my dream of forging these two diverse interests of mine
into a fulfilling new career. Though I have had no formal training
in design, I have found that I could come up with innovative and
original ideas for solutions to various problems faced during my
career at sea, such as designing new types of tools for machinery
maintenance, more efficient methods of overhaul or more effective
automation systems. At leisure too, I have always enjoyed designing
and building models, be they a set of rotating water fountains for
ship-board decoration or a stable painting easel from the limited
material available on board or architectural sketches for my future
home.
I have also worked with keen interest in computer-based simulation
models and training aids my father is currently involved in
developing. I have designed numerous models for his company
demonstrating lesson plans for the functioning of various mechanical
systems such as principles of IC engines, fuel injection and fire
detection systems etc., using software such as 3D Studio and
Macromedia Director. I am currently engaged in developing a web-site
for showcasing an exquisitely beautiful temple complex in Southern
India, called X.
While I was studying at UC Berkeley, I had the opportunity of
visiting the Stanford University campus and meeting with Professor Y
of Design Division. He was very appreciative of my art portfolio and
on his advice I visited the Design Loft on campus, which has left a
lasting impression on me. There was a charged atmosphere of
creativity in that room and it seemed ideas would almost shape
themselves out in that melee of materials and tools and half-built
models.
I am sure that formally studying Product Design can channelize my
capabilities and enable me to come up with functionally efficient
and aesthetically pleasing designs especially in the field of
household consumer products and electronics. I would consider it an
honor if I could study at Stanford University and assure you that I
will put in my utmost effort into this domain.
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