Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez had an everlasting impact on me.

I was fascinated by the

technology featured in the novel, like drones and robots that were able to do what man could

not; carry out stealth operations completely undetected, take out military targets with very little

colateral, as well as able to gather intel very quickly. Far more efficient and reliable, these

machines captivated me. In conjunction to the technology in the novel, I was able to witness

real-life military technology that are used by the Malaysian Navy as I accompanied my father to

work. My father showed me SONAR technology used by the military to detect mines,

submarines and submersibles.This piece of technology opened my eyes to the fact that many

aspects to the fictional technology from novels I read can possibly be invented to make our lives

so much easier as they follow the same principles as existing technology. While observing the

navy and some of their defense weapon systems like DARDO, I was impressed by how a

missile could chase a moving object up to hundreds of kilometers while going against water and

air resistance. This experience sparked my passion to pursue Mechanical Engineering—a

course that allows me to apply physics and maths with my creativity.

In the year 2015, with the theme being Robotics Renaissance, I participated in my school’s 7th

international youth development summit through which I was able to share and gain

knowledge0 on technology with people from various countries around the world whilst being

able to improve my communication skills. Delegates from India presented a case study where a

community in Nigeria built their houses using discarded plastic bottles.The bottles were packed

with sand and were stacked on their sides, one on top of the other and were held together firmly

by mud. The ‘bottle brick’ technology was then adapted and its use in India started at around the

year 2000. South and Central America later joined in on using this innovative idea, providing a

cost-effective, environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional building bricks.The

compacted sand is nearly 20 times stronger than regular bricks and is bulletproof and it also

insulates the house from the sun’s heat, cooling the interior. Through my participation in the
summit event, I now believe that the innovation of abundant waste materials in making futuristic

designs using concepts like thermodynamics, will be the future of green mechanical

engineering.

As an A-Level student with my main subjects being Physics and Mathematics, I am able to

develop a critical and creative way of thinking by solving certain problems such as the use of

differential equations in understanding complex models. Principles in Physics helped me in

visualising and solving Mathematical problems, especially in Applied Mechanics. Marine

Science gave me some knowledge about the marine world, and its aspects that can be

exploited by the engineering field. For example, the study of tides is used in generating energy

and the aerodynamic shape used in designing amazing technology like the McLaren P1 hybrid

supercar was inspired by the hydrodynamic shape of sailfish. Even Mercedes-Benz designed

their new bionic car based on the shape of boxfish. In addition, I learned the workings of basic

mechanical systems through my free reading, such as pulley and hydraulic systems which are

essential in understanding more complex systems.

In college, I was part of a team project designing to tackle traffic issues. My group presented a

model that can be used at tollways to calculate driving speed of cars. A detector is placed at

every tollway to detect a particular car as it passes through and the average time taken for the

car to pass through the next tollway. Based on this, we can identify which drivers exceeded the

speed limit through calculating the car’s speed by taking the distance between the two tollways

dividing it by the time taken. Our project was then presented at a national event and we were

handed the chance to present our idea in an international innovation competition held in Turkey.

The experience helped me to be able to think of more innovative ideas as I pursue mechanical

engineering. On top of all of this, being the captain of my state’s football team taught me the
importance of discipline and teamwork. The hardships to win the National Football League that

was held 8 months-long taught me determination and passion, which is very useful for me in

order to pursue a challenging course; Mechanical Engineering.

I believe that discoveries in physics, mathematics, and engineering were not by a single person

but rather a group full of smart individual with a strong sense of teamwork. As a Petronas

scholarship recipient, I am very passionate to study mechanical engineering and serve my

country when I come back with the knowledge that I had obtained from your prestigious

university.