Today I write this statement of purpose, requesting that you consider my application as a student in the Masters of Engineering Program in Civil Engineering. As an international applicant from Bangladesh, I offer a diverse set of study experience in the engineering field. Pertinently, the educational needs based study and research surrounding transportation Engineering are of direct interest to me. I am seeking my admission to the masters of engineering program of Concordia University with transportation engineering as my specialization.
Once I secured admission to one of the best engineering university in Bangladesh, my intention was to gain in depth knowledge rather than just getting marks. During my undergraduate studies over the last four years, the excellent course structure coupled with high academic standards further stimulated my interest in the field of civil engineering. Out of the programs offered by my university, I found transportation engineering the most suitable for me. I have always been fascinated with the roads and traffic. But what made me more interested in this field is the ongoing unrest in the transportation sector in Bangladesh. Being a densely populated country with insufficient number of roads and public transport, the transportation system in Bangladesh is an unsystematic sector. There are untrained drivers and unsafe roads with poor road conditions. Transportation management system is not effective. Accidental deaths from road accidents are very common. This crashes and accidental deaths are common both in highways to large cities to even small towns. To continue the economic progress, transportation system needs to be effective. Transportation system needs to be faster, efficient and most importantly safe for everyone. All of these factors work behind my decision to take transportation engineering as my future career path.
Keeping this thinking in my mind, I took my undergraduate thesis on transportation engineering. I chose my topic on road safety. The work was to find out the main reasons behind driver distraction in Dhaka city. As I didn’t have financial or technological support from university, I had to do the work on my own. It has been done on a small scale but if it can be done on a larger scale it will surely put an impact on the overall transportation safety scenario in Bangladesh. With my problem-solving ability I made my own DIY equipment for capturing the data from field and later analyzed it using software. After the data collection and analyzation, found some of the most common and dominant reasons behind driver distraction. What I have seen from the fieldwork and later from the analyzed data, it is a clear indication of how much drivers are distracted while driving and how much this possess a risk upon the road users. At the undergraduate level, I have tried to the best of my ability to get an exposure to research work in order to take a lead in this direction and to get an insight into the field of transportation engineering.
At this point in my academic career, I realize that my undergraduate education has provided me with what is only a glimpse of this field and there is so much more waiting to be explored and created in this field. I want to explore much more in this field. I want to learn more about the transportation management system, road safety and traffic operation . If I get a chance I want to learn about Intelligent transportation system. In future I want to work in my country’s transportation engineering field and keep my mark on solving the ongoing transportation problems. I want to learn about how we can accommodate more vehicles in my country’s roads which is getting more and more densely packed. The traffic management system should be competent enough to handle this much pressure. I want to learn ways to make our roads safer and adapt innovative ideas. I believe a quality higher education from a university in developed world will help me achieving this aim.
If someone asks me how am I as a person, I would say I’m smart, active, confident and intelligent. One of my most distinguishing characteristics is the diversity of experience I possess. I have a passion for traveling. I have traveled most of the places of my beautiful country. Moreover, my hometown and university are in two different cities in Bangladesh. For the last several years I have been living outside my family all by me. This made me stronger, made me survive in different situations which previously I thought wouldn’t be possible for me. I have seen people from different backgrounds and various cultures. All these elements have given me a broader outlook. I am a very curious person. I am always willing to learn and I appreciate every opportunity to learn new things. I have a natural competency with computer softwares. I’m a fast learner. With varying degrees of knowledge in a range of topics, I strongly believe that although some are not related directly, all these qualities will influence my graduate work.
After searching extensively for a suitable academic program, the MEng in Civil Engineering at the University of Concordia has emerged as my top choice. I am applying for your university on an account of its excellent facilities combined with highly qualified faculty and worldclass infrastructure. My admission into your esteemed institution is of paramount importance for my career. With my theoretical knowledge and practical skill, I am well equipped to meet your expectations and if given a chance, I shall make the best out of it.
