Statement of Purpose

Growing up and working on infrastructure projects in a metropolitan city like

Mumbai, I have witnessed the mayhem which engulfs the transportation sector.
A perennially burgeoning population and a rapidly growing middle class are
placing an additional burden on an already saturated transport network. As the
city and the country moves along its growth trajectory, the transportation
network is amongst the first issues to reckon with. In this regard, the federal and
state governments have gradually committed substantial resources to overhaul
the transportation network within cities as well as connect the different nerve
centres (i.e. cities) within the country. The plan for a new infrastructure
development plan for the country from 2015 onwards has been tabled; the
product of this will be numerous projects being floated.

Hence, there is mandate for a systematic and innovative approach to

supplementing the existing network as well as reducing the load on the
overburdened networks. I would like to pursue my Master Degree in
Transportation Engineering from University of Illinois, Urbana-
Champaign(UIUC) to consolidate my knowledge of pavement construction and to
develop another division within our infrastructure development firm, working as
consultants in the field of transportation planning. This division would capitalize
on a spate of opportunities in the transportation sector by bidding for lucrative
government projects. However, prior to returning to my family concern, I intend
to work in the transportation sector in a developed country, for a couple of years,
so that I learn the requirements for a successful transport network and apply
those principles in my company.
The undergraduate education provided me with a formal insight into the
theoretical approach and the practical applications of Civil Engineering.
Transportation Engineering and Environmental Engineering were my focus area
which were introduced from the 5th semester onwards. I excelled in my electives
in the final year by scoring 80% in “Traffic Planning and Design” in the 7th
semester and 89.33% in “Pavement Design and Construction” in the 8th
semester, thereby standing 1st in the University for this subject. As part of my
senior thesis “Project Planning & Management of a Construction Project”, I
undertook the role of a Project Management Consultant whereby I understood
the importance of a systematic approach to project planning, which is one of the
prerequisites of a transport moduler.
In addition, as I pride myself on staying ahead of the competition through my
undergraduate tenure, I took the opportunity to learn various software packages
including the HDM-4, Cube Base and Cube Voyager as these packages not only
provided a powerful system for the analysis of road management and investment
alternatives but also enforced my knowledge of the four basic steps of Urban
Transportation Planning System: Trip Generation, Trip Distribution, Modal
Choice and Route Assignment. The understanding of the Cube and applying the
same on an extra-curricular project which was carried out during the senior
year, under the guidance of my transport engineering Professor Dr. Prabhat
Shrivastava, a global transport planning consultant, will provide me with an edge
in absorbing the finer nuances of transport planning during graduate school.
Upon graduation, I decided to join my family’s construction company, which
offers turnkey services to governmental agencies in the areas of bituminous
pavement construction, building anti-sea erosion bunds along the shores, laying
of sewer pipelines, etc. I got formally inducted into the family business on a part-
time basis at the age of 17 and have since then carried out various activities
including surveying work, understanding and executing designs provided to us
and getting certifications from government laboratories for the materials that we
use in the project.
Since the past three months, I have spent a sizeable amount of time working on
both the technical and financial aspects of tenders for pavement development
projects. Along with that, I have carried out upgradation of our available human
and machine resources in order to be equipped for the impending working
season. I have completed a study of our previous works with regards to
bituminous pavements and have inferenced a plan of action for the next
pavement project, taking into account the axle load repetitions, aggregate
selection and its proportioning and the corresponding stretch of work, so as to
ensure precision in our work and optimization of our resources.
While the past four years working in my family concern was enlightening and
necessary, I have realized that I need to pursue further education to expand the
services offered by our company. A graduate education from UIUC would
provide me with the perfect steppingstone to achieve my career goal of creating
unprecedented progress for my family business. My grandfather, who started
from scratch, laid the foundation for our company; it was consolidated by my
father who brought about management, efficiency and profitability to our
company. In my endeavour to put my company on a national pedestal, I see no
better college than UIUC to help me realize these goals.
The courses such as Geometric Design of Roads, Advancement Pavement design,
Pavement Evaluation and Rehab, Advanced Bituminous Materials would give me
a deeper insight about the requirements of pavement design, its construction
and maintenance. Dr. Jeffery Roesler’s research interests in concrete pavement
design and its analysis, fatigue and fracture of concrete, continuously reinforced
concrete pavements, accelerated pavement testing of PCC and fibrous concrete
appeal to me. Courses such as Traffic Flow Modeling and Simulation,
Transportation System Analysis, etc. will introduce me to the latest application of
Transportation Planning and its management using statistical analysis. The
excellent facilities available at the Advanced Transportation Research and
Engineering Laboratory (ATREL) with regards to modelling, traffic operations
laboratory, material testing and accelerated pavement testing would help me
hone my theoretical knowledge. I look forward to working with Rahim F.
Benekohal and Professor Yangfeng Ouyang in conjunction with my desired areas
of interests.
I am confident that my dedication towards transportation engineering as well as
my background qualifies me as an ideal candidate for the prestigious
Transportation Engineering program and I look forward to being part of the Fall
2010 student body.