ABISHEK VAITHIYANATHAN 1

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
MAJOR : M.S. in BUSINESS ANALYTICS

Dreams are universal and every person dreams of his future. The urge to achieve and passion to learn new things has
made me compete with my dreams. From humble beginnings, I, Abishek Vaithiyanathan, have come a long way towards
achieving my dreams. My parents and my uncle in particular, who was a scientist at ISRO, motivated me to fulfill the
same.

Ever since my childhood, I had a strong desire to learn mathematical concepts and apply those in practical situations. If I
remember correctly, I was about ten years old, when I first attended a workshop on Vedic mathematics where I had an
opportunity to introduce myself to the basics of numeric computations and algebraic theorems. Since then, I have
always wanted to think in an analytical way and try to make logical sense out of whatever information I was given. This
helped me set my goal to become an analyst. While in school, I consistently participated in many Science quizzes, talent
tests and Olympiads; only to assess how well I understand a concept and to what extent I can apply it. I was one of the
toppers of my school in tenth grade with a percentage of 99 and 98 in mathematics and science subjects respectively.

When I first started working with computers in my school lab, I was excited to see its logical and computational power.
This instilled a strong interest in me to learn more about computers and their intricacies. In my intermediate (eleventh
grade and twelfth grade), I chose Mathematics and Computer Science stream instead of Biology because by then, I was
already motivated towards a field that involves the application of analytical skills in technology to interpret various
forms of digital data. I was lucky to have a friendly set of teachers who encouraged me to experiment my lab exercises
with a more practical point of view. I managed to complete my twelfth grade with a percentage of 99 in mathematics,
98.5 in computer science and an overall percentage of 96.

It was imperative for me to choose an appropriate undergraduate course that would guide me towards my aspiration. It
is because of its erudite professors, astounding lab facilities, immense placement opportunities and support to extra-
curricular activities, I chose SSN college of engineering (ranked one among the top 20 private engineering colleges in
India by Times of India – one of India’s top English news paper) to pursue my under graduate education.

My undergraduate course study has divulged me to various branches of Information Technology, assisting me in
acquiring the basic knowledge and comprehensive understanding of the underlying concepts. The academic assignments
and curricular projects also helped me a lot in developing my perspective. I have done various projects as I progressed in
my academia. In the course of my engineering, I have never restricted myself to work on a single technology.

During my second year, I worked on a project named “Car parking payment and slot management” in which I developed
a system using C++ object oriented programming concepts. This system displays the number of available slots as
opposed to the total parking slots and their slot Ids. It also generates the fee of every parked car based on the car’s
period of stay. During my third year, I created a “Course Registration system” under the domain OOAD wherein, the
students are required to enter their particulars into the system and register themselves for a particular course. The tool
will then display a list of possible branches that will accommodate for the student based on his/her marks. In the same
year, I also developed an “Online Flight booking system” using several web technologies. For my final year research
project, I worked on “Automatic Indoor Profiling” under the guidance of Dr. K. Premkumar and Dr. R. Srinivasan. The
objective of this project is to provide a sketch of the indoor profile by using mobile sensors such as optical mouse and
Kinect sensor.

My journey throughout the undergraduate course played a pivotal role in my knowledge growth and I completed my
bachelors by acquiring First Class.
 ABISHEK VAITHIYANATHAN 2
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
MAJOR : M.S. in BUSINESS ANALYTICS

Besides academics, another aspect that fascinated me was Music. I developed a penchant for carnatic version of music
which I learnt for about eight years. I started giving concerts at the age of twelve. At SSN, I became the head of Music
club and organized several events during “INSTINCTS” (a three day International Cultural festival) for two consecutive
years. Managing a group of 200 students who came from various colleges to participate, demanded responsibility and
planning on a large scale. Thus, taking up an organizer’s role in “INSTINCTS” was definitely a skill oriented job. I also
worked as a student organizer for my department symposium (“Converita”) during which, I dealt with delegates and
professionals from in and out of the country. I was recognized by my college with an award for my contributions in
extracurricular activities.

I wanted to pursue graduate studies immediately after finishing my undergraduate degree but then I thought I would
work for a couple of years to get equipped for the rigors of Masters’. So about fifteen months ago, I joined Bank of
America Continuum India (BACI), Chennai as a ‘Senior Technical Associate’. Currently, I am working on a project called
“Rates Dashboard”, wherein we, as a team of two, developed an internal system using Python technology to display a
real time reconciliation of various trade attributes. This dashboard is being used by the middle office to monitor and
control the flow of interest rate swap trades between various trade booking systems such as Markitwire and many
more. I also attend to user queries and solve their issues by carrying out an end to end analysis of the issue’s root cause.
The bank recognized my works with two “Global Recognition” awards that further motivated me to reach the next level
in my career. I love every minute of my work, especially the opportunity to learn cutting-edge technologies and to
discuss ideas with well experienced employees. Now it’s time for the next step, i.e. graduate studies.

I went through the 2011 McKinsey report that estimated there will be around 140000 to 190000 unfilled positions of
U.S. data analytics experts by 2018. I think this is the right time for me to pursue my Masters in BA, not only to nurture
my career but also contribute my share in bridging this gap. In order to become an adept professional who can
contribute to this field of specialization, I need to gain proficiency in this field, as my current knowledge is only a speck in
the ocean. A masters program with an exposure to an excellent research environment is the first directional step I need
to take towards gaining the academic proficiency I seek. The journey has just begun, as knowledge requires constant
upgrading through academics or work experience or both.

I now stand at the portals of your university in pursuit of my dreams, seeking admission for the masters program in
Business Analytics.

University of Texas, Dallas has the unique distinction of being at the forefront of Big Data Analytics field. The researchers
at the Information Technology and Management centre actively engage themselves in the application of IT in health
care, agriculture with data visualization concepts. I would be excited to learn from and work under the Prof. Indranil R.
Bardhan whose exemplary work in the fields of Predictive Modeling and Healthcare Informatics, have won world wide
accolade. In addition to regular curriculum, the works at Business Intelligence and Analytic Tools club will provide me a
platform to supplement my learning, and to further delve into the area of my interest. Thus, UTD Naveen Jindal School
of Management is my choice for graduate studies. I believe that my diligence and fortitude in academics if supported by
the learning environment and guidance of the esteemed faculty of your Institution can enhance the true professional in
me. This experience would further allow me to make valuable contributions globally in industry and academia.