Statement of Purpose

Computer scientists who allow us to live in a world of magic through their wonderful
innovations have always been my ‘Superheroes’ and I also wanted to be one of them. My
undergraduate study in Bangladesh at University of Dhaka (DU), in the department of
computer science and engineering introduced me to the true expanse of computer science. My
teaching career in Bangladesh at Daffodil International University (DIU) refines my
knowledge and skills in computer science. The experiences I gathered from DU and DIU
inspired me to pursue my career as a researcher in computer science. I believe pursing PhD in
computer science will strengthen my journey towards becoming a successful researcher.

During my undergraduate study, I developed a keen interest in the fields of artificial intelligence,
database, data mining and bioinformatics. I n my senior year, my department organized a
research workshop on data mining and bioinformatics. I found that these areas are expanding
with numerous potential research opportunities. The research aspect of data mining that
attract me most was its ability to predict future. On the other hand, I was amazed by the
ability of bioinformatics to unravel the mystery of life. Motivated by this workshop, I did my
bachelor thesis on evolutionary algorithm. I developed a tool using self-adaptive differential
evolution algorithm for economic load dispatch problem. Before my thesis work, I had very little
idea on evolutionary algorithms. To enhance my background, I went through several books,
articles, research papers, video lectures. With my dedication and hard work, I successfully
overcame the obstacles. Based on my academic and research experience at university of Dhaka, I
was convinced that I should pursue my career in research.

Currently I am working as lecturer at department of computer science and engineering,

Daffodil International University, Bangladesh. During my 4 years of undergraduate teaching, I
have instructed several undergraduate courses including programming and problem solving,
algorithms, bioinformatics, data mining and artificial intelligence. Not being an expert in
bioinformatics and data mining, it was quite challenging for me to teach those courses.
However, my intense interest in data mining and bioinformatics motivated me to overcome
the challenge. I delved into various reading materials including books, conference articles and
journal papers. I attended two free online courses offered by Coursera. I synthesized my
understanding in a survey paper titled “Data Mining Techniques for Informative Motif
discovery”. My hard work and dedication was reflected on my teaching evaluation, which
was ranked as “Excellent”. I also supervised some undergraduate projects including library
management system, interactive virtual classroom, and tourism management system. Currently I
am supervising a project named “A data mining approach for economic call finder”. In
Bangladesh, there are multiple mobile phone companies with numerous prepaid packages for cell
phone connection. This project aims to suggest the most economic prepaid operator’s package to
the customers based on their characteristics of outgoing calls including call duration, call time,
calling operator etc. My teaching and supervising experiences have helped me to develop a
proper temperament, power of speech, in addition to a thorough and extensive knowledge
of my field.

Apart from my teaching and research activities, I have strong aptitude for management and
organizing events, seminars and festivals. I am a member of event management committee at
department of computer science and engineering, DIU. The primary responsibility of this
committee is to organize various workshops, seminars, talks etc. These activities helped me to
develop my managerial and leadership skills. In addition, in my bachelor study, I organized
and anchored several events, participated in many debating competition and won accolades. I
was three times champion in “Inter University Debating Competition” which is one of the most
prestigious debating competitions in Bangladesh held among fifty different debating clubs. These
experiences helped me to present my thoughts in front of a responsive and critical audience. I
acted as a president of Computer Science & Engineering University of Dhaka (CSEDU)
Debating Club. I was also elected as a secretary of ‘Ruquayyah Debating Club’-one of the most
successful debating clubs in Bangladesh. These experiences helped to develop my ability to
handle responsibility and work under pressure.

However, ten years from now, I want to see me in a position where I would be able to build my
research lab. I have a long held dream that the research works from my lab will contribute to the
society as well as my country. With this goal in mind, I realized that I need to gain more
expertise and exposure to an excellent research environment. Therefore I decided to pursue
my PhD degree in an institution that has excellent research facilities, top class faculty and
magnificent infrastructure.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette) is an excellent university with vibrant

research activities. I visited the webpage of the Computer Science department and thrilled
with its Centre for Advanced Computer Studies (CACS) research activities especially in the
areas of Data Mining, Bioinformatics and Intelligent Systems since they match with my
interest. The research works from Bioinformatics Laboratory, Biological Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory (BAIL) and Laboratory for Internet Computing (LINC) caught my eyes.
It would be a great opportunity for me to pursue my graduate study in this prestigious institute. I
am confident that I would be able to make positive contribution to on-going research work at UL
Lafayette. Financial assistantship from your university will help me to achieve excellence in this
long journey of graduate study.

I believe that I possess required self-confidence, motivation and intellectual ability to perform
well in a computer science graduate program. I am sure I would be able to make proud both my
country and UL Lafayette.

I am looking forward to be a part of your esteemed graduate program.

Rashida Hasan