I am a 2nd Aerospace student writing to motivate my application for the exchange program at the National University. The first time I flew to the Netherlands to study Aerospace Engineering was the first time I had sat in an aircraft or been outside North India. New experiences and new destinations also mean new challenges, over the next one and a half year I have found myself in situations way out of my comfort zone. Learning how to deal with them and interacting with people from all around the world has proven to be a fun but challenging learning curve for me. Naturally, when an opportunity to go abroad for exchange showed up it appealed to me as another opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and meet new people.
Singapore, offers me a unique chance of experiencing a rare mix of Asian and western culture. On one hand, it gives me an opportunity to reconnect with my Asiatic roots due to the presence of a number of Asian cultures within Singapore which then blends with the city’s conformity to the western world.
Educationally, NUS is renowned for its academic prowess, but more important it employs a unique method of teaching that focuses on ‘Continuous Assessment’ with more focus on midterm assignments and lab work for certain modules. This method of teaching holds a special appeal to me as it promises an educational experience significantly different from that in Delft.
Besides being located in Singapore, the range of engineering courses offered by NUS is also very inviting. For the last four months, I have been a member of the Formula Student Team at Delft. Being a part of the electrics department my work has entailed understanding the working of each part of the car to select appropriate sensors and designing a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for communication within the car. Although challenging, this job has given me a beautiful perspective on how engineering fields other than Aerospace Engineering operate. The minor at NUS, gives me a chance to further explore these fields of engineering.
The driverless car project at Formula Student Team is a car which drives without a driver. Various state estimation and path planning vectors are coded into such a system to make the car perform successfully. Partially working on such a project has enhanced my interest in Machine Learning and Robotics. The module CS2040 Data Structures and Algorithms forms the basis for learning any advanced courses such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning while also helping me polish my coding skills by solving various problems through basic data structures.
The next two modules ME4245 Robot Mechanics and Control and ME3242 Automation delve more into the hardware of such autonomous systems. Robotics is a field that has always fascinated me, the module robot mechanics and control explains the fundamentals of design and application of such robots and will help me develop an understanding of control architecture and manipulator systems of robots.
The Automation module focuses on working with sequencing circuits, with lab sessions organized weekly, this course will help me provide practical experience with designing of various circuits involving switches and actuators for industry grade automated machines. Lastly, MT4002 Technology Managements and Strategy is not a technical course, but a module that focuses on different techniques for commercialization of a technical product. Commercialization being an important part of today’s world, it is important that one understands how a product should be sold to the masses.
I am grateful that TU delft has provided me such an opportunity to pursue a minor abroad and intend to use this experience to participate in a new culture, improve my knowledge and hopefully create everlasting memories.
