STATEMENT OF PURPOSE



“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself." –Henry Ward Beecher. I have always done my best to live by this philosophy in everything from school to rock climbing to undergraduate research. As a result, I have a long history of both academic and personal excellence, and would welcome the opportunity to apply my ambition and drive to the Computer Science doctoral program at Purdue University.

My reasons for wanting to pursue a graduate degree are threefold. First, doing good graduate work will serve to establish me firmly in the field. Second, I enjoy creating things that are useful or entertaining to others. Graduate work will allow me to dispense with the undergraduate strategy of reinventing the wheel to learn, and instead learn by creating new things. Last, and most importantly, undergraduate work does not delve deep enough into my specific interests. As I see it, an undergraduate degree is just a way to obtain the knowledge and background necessary to specialize and do real work.

My main research interest is in Computer Graphics. Specifically, I want to do work in rendering large realistic complex and interactive scenes. This could be anything from new vertex and pixel shading algorithms to perfecting a model for user interfaces to a three dimensional simulation. My secondary research interest is Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks. Possible projects could span the gamut from robotics to natural language processing.

Since these fields require a broad knowledge base I have exposed myself to many facets of computer science through coursework, research and consulting opportunities during my time as an undergraduate student. In my coursework, I have learned the methods and importance of both low and high level design. I gained this knowledge in part, through programming my own assembly language in binary code architecture class, and by working with an entire class of programmers to create a functional student registration application. During my research opportunities, I learned the importance of good research methods such as keeping a regular research journal and closely reading previous research.

As a consultant, I have designed and implemented software for a small regional company. This gave me valuable experience in the more interpersonal aspects of the field. Getting succinct requirements from the client, dealing with requirement changes, setting a realistic timetable, and providing support after project completion were all invaluable skills I learned.

In addition, as a personal project, I have written my own graphics engine. My senior project is to extend the engine to make it programmable via a scripting language written by a classmate. This work has taught me to set and meet my own goals and to research new technologies and programming techniques independently. It has also significantly furthered my knowledge of graphics as I have now had to deal with culling, collision detection, transparency issues, camera gimbal lock, and many other problems.

I believe that these experiences qualify me for both graduate study at Purdue, and the pursuit of my career goals. During the Ph. D. program I am interested in establishing myself in the field through involvement in SIGGRAPH and other major conferences. After completing the program I intend to work in the industry as an engine programmer or at a major hardware manufacturer such as Nvidia. I am also interested in the entrepreneurial aspects of creating my own business as a graphics middleware developer. Eventually, I would like to go back to the academic realm and teach at a university while doing more research.

I believe that the completion of your Ph. D. program will give me the best chance of succeeding at these goals due to Purdue’s evident devotion to computer graphics research. The Rendering and Perceptualization Lab, Envision Lab, and SWELL project are excellent examples of this devotion. I believe my previous undergraduate research experience, commitment to success, passion for the field, desire to establish myself in the profession, and drive to achieve my career goals makes me a strong candidate for graduate research in graphics.

Curriculum Vita:

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