STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

SOHAM PANIGRAHI
MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE (NT) (FALL 2015)

I never chose to get a Bachelors degree in Electronics and Communications

engineering. The Degree chose me. Graduating from high school and applying to
colleges ; most other options seemed to be a step down from what I considered to
be my potential.
American universities have always been in the frontier of scientific development
and research in our times, evident from the notable names that form a part of their
alumni. In the past three decades they have made ground breaking contributions in
the field of Computer Science and technology, emerging as centers where every
day global norms are challenged. Motivated to pursue a career in CS, I aspire to get
a MS degree from University Of Texas Dallas, one that would give me a
comprehensive knowledge in the field, arm me with skills essential to excel in the
industry and boost my professional and academic endeavors.
I always had a keen interest in Mathematics and Physics in my Intermediate
Education, which inspired me to work hard towards getting a place in the Electronics
and Communication Engineering Department of one of the most reputed colleges in
my state. It was in my second semester there that I was first introduced to
Computer Programming in C. The simple idea of altering a code to achieve desired
changes in the output generated a great sense of enthusiasm in me and what
followed was hours spent engrossed in coding. In my final year I was one of the
students responsible to create the website of our college annual fest, Chakravyuh,
along with one for our college monthly newsletter Veritas of which I was an active
member. In my 2nd semester, I along with 3 other friends came together to build a
manually controlled robot for the event Death Race at the tech fest of National
Institute of Technology, Rourkela. Despite being amateurs we managed to be the
finalists in event. I went on to be a part of several robotics teams as a programmer,
attending numerous college fests in the process. One of the notable events we
participated was Spider Wave, for which we designed two autonomous bots, one
hostage and the other the rescuer. The rescuer bot was designed to be capable of
solving a maze while communicating with the hostage bot to synchronize its moves.
The challenges I faced in these events brought the best of my analytical and
innovative thought and gave a great sense of accomplishment.

I did my degree internship at Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO), India at

Chandipur in Telemetry. Here I acquired an in depth knowledge of the different
software managing telemetry systems, functions of the receiving antenna, bit sync,
antenna controller, maintenance of line of sight communication and how telemetry
makes it possible to acquire the health parameters of a missile. I completed a
project on FPGA on XILINX platform which was related to the designing and
implementation of PCM simulator and function generator using VHDL. During my
summer training at Doordarshan, Bhubaneswar, I was trained in hardwired logic
control, relay logic application & PLC. I have also gained knowledge in profibus,
interfaces, remote I/O, peer to peer & host computer communication.
In the final year of my education I got recruited by Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS), an Indian multinational operating in 44 countries around the world. It offered
me with an opportunity to get just the kind of exposure in Software technology that
I was hoping for. I completed my initial training at TCS in UNIX/CPP during which I
gained considerable amount of proficiency in shell scripting, Microsoft SQL server
management, programming in C++ and using PRO*C to compile embedded SQL
statements. In my last 1.5 years of experience working for TCS I have become adept
in JAVA, XSLT and Microsoft SQL Server. I have been entrusted to work in some
critical applications like MMI (Mobile Mediation Instantlink) where I use a
provisioning tool (Comptel InstantLink) to implement changes from upstream
OSS/BSS in the network elements. Here the telecom domain knowledge that I had
gained in my Electronics and Communication Major helped me well. Though working
for my current project has presented me with a range of opportunities I continually
realize there is much to learn. I have been responsible for instructing several
sessions across teams to develop their knowledge and skills in MMI. I have worked
for the Order Service Management (OSM) team to convert XML files using XSLT. I
have been regularly lauded and promoted for my technical competence and
dedication towards my work. I consider that my time working for TCS has taught me
to be instinctive and swift to adapt to the ever changing demands of new
technology, making learning a perpetual part of the career.
Although having an intense and competitive professional life, I always have found
time to pursue my hobbies. I am formally trained in classical Hindustani music to
play the violin; I was a part of the college basketball team and former editor of the
college monthly newsletter. I consider myself to be a creative individual who is able
to identify patterns and relationships that may not be obvious to others. I
thoroughly enjoyed my time as an undergraduate student and am so now as a
professional; nevertheless I realize that I have aptitude, competence and
preparation to progress further. Ergo I find the time apt to get a graduation degree
in the field of Computer Science.
The University Of Texas Dallas with its highly qualified faculty, world class
infrastructure and lab facilities makes it a coveted destination for a student

dedicated to excellence. The contributions of

Dr. Gopal Gupta in the field of
programming languages is immense and studying and learning from such esteemed
faculty members would be a great opportunity. The knowledge and experience I
have gathered thus far would enable me contribute extensively to classroom
discussions, practical projects, and ongoing research initiatives at the university. I
look forward to integrating myself with your culturally diverse student body and also
lend my organizational and administrative skills towards coordinating campus
events and volunteering my time for community activities. I sincerely hope that you
will acknowledge my potential and grant me admission to your fine graduate school
on deserving merit. I am sanguine, availing this opportunity would help realize my
ambition of playing leading role in Industry and Research in my field of choice.