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Hi, Trung

I hope that all is well for you. I am making final decisions regarding research funding and I am seriously considering offering you an assistantship. I do have a couple of questions for you, however. 1. You mention in your statement of purpose that you would like to work in the field of topology optimization. However, that is not within the scope of my research expertise. How willing are you to work in my areas of research, specifically granular mechanics? Is this an area that interests you? What is your level of enthusiasm for this work? 2. I also note that you are in contention for a VEF fellowship specifically to study topology optimization. How will changing fields affect this? 3. I note that your MS work is in engineering mechanics and structural analysis. Can you give me a sense of your soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering background? How prepared are you to begin Ph.D. studies in geotechnical engineering? I look forward to hearing back from you. Matt

Dear Prof. Evans, Thank you for your notes. Below are my answers to your questions: 1. 3. As it shows on my undergraduate transcript, I have already taken several classes in soil mechanics and foundation design. After finishing undergraduate studies, I have worked as a structural engineer , whose duties include geotechnical structure design such as deep and shallow foundation, retaining wall and basement wall. Though I am deeply aware of many big differences between professional practices and academic research, my academic education and professional practices do provide me a solid background of soil mechanics and some sense of granular mechanics acquired when I had to design a silo to contain diammonium phosphate (DAP), which is used a fertilizer and can be considered as a granular material. Also from those experiences, I have found geotechnical engineering and granular mechanics very interesting with a lot of applications in design. As far as I know, one of your current projects is mentioned in this NSF grant, which would satisfy my long fascination on the beautiful combination of mathematics, mechanics and computer programming. Stereology, computed

tomography and image analysis are presently unfamiliar bodies of knowledge to me; however, I do believe my strong desire to explore and conquer the unknown is more important my current insights of those fields. Based on my understanding of mathematics and mechanics, my passion for computer-related works and my enjoyment of solving interesting problems, I am confident of making my own humble contribution in geotechnical engineering and granular mechanics in years to come if admitted. I eagerly look forward to working under your supervision. 2. The area of research I registered with VEF was topology optimization. If I pursue another graduate program, for example, on granular mechanics, I will certainly not be funded by VEF. As you may know, I am an alternate for VEF Fellowship. It means that I may be funded by VEF; however, the final decision will not be made until mid April 2013. In any cases, I would like to be considered for a graduate assistantship. I am looking forward to your admission decision. Thank you! Best regards, Trung

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