Why I left The Engineering Science & Mechanics Program

A number of reasons coalesced to push me to the decision of taking a break from the
graduate program I was enrolled in. Primarily, I did not enjoy the research I was
doing. It involved very repetitive tasks of spray painting a substrate, which needed
upwards of 40 coats per sample, and over an hour between each deposition. I was
relegated to a lab, alone, where I spent much of my time doing this. My thesis
advisor Dr. Tittmann also decided to retire, and move to La Holla, California. Thus, I
decided to take a break from grad school and explore my options for employment.

What I’ve done in the meantime

Initially, I began working as a part time powerlifting and bodybuilding coach.
Powerlifting and bodybuilding are hobbies of mine that I’ve had a large amount of
success with. I was ranked 5 in the nation for my weight class in powerlifting in
2014, and am qualified to compete in National Level bodybuilding competitions. I
also took up a job as a delivery driver during this period, to help make ends meet. I
found coaching very rewarding, since it offered me the ability to help people make
some significant positive changes in their life. It was not the most lucrative business
though, and was far more time consuming than I ever could have imagined.
Ultimately I felt bad about never finishing my graduate degree, and wanted to return
to grad school to study something I was very passionate about. I’ve had a large
amount of experience working in IT, and have really enjoyed my thermodynamics,
fluids, and finite elements courses that I have taken as an undergrad. Pursuing a
degree in Mechanical Engineering where I could potentially focus on computational
fluid dynamics, finite elements, or even additive manufacturing is what excites me
the most, academically.

Interests and Motivation

I just graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University with
honors in Engineering Science. I would describe myself as a highly driven and
passionate individual with a very curious mind. This personality trait has been
consistent throughout my life. I believe that once locked in to an interest, I have a
very high capacity to excel. To provide examples of this, I have excelled in both
athletics and in academics. I was All-State in high school tennis my junior and
senior year. I played number one on the varsity tennis team at a division I school
(Bucknell). More recently, I have developed an interest in competitive power lifting
and achieved a national ranking of number 5 (as of 1/1/2015). On the intellectual
side, I became interested in computers at a very young age. I am self-taught in
Linux, computer networking and computer programing. A demonstration of my
passion and drive in this area is that even without a Bachelor degree, I was hired at
$42,000 per year as a systems engineer in Seattle, WA.

Education
I initially studied engineering for two years at Bucknell University. It was my first
time away from home and quite frankly, I was not mature enough to handle division
I tennis and academics. My struggles in the first year and the financial concerns of a
private school resulted in my parents not supporting my continued education at
Bucknell. I then decided to take some time off where I worked and/or went to
school part time. I worked as a computer technician and systems engineer during
my time away from school. This time away from school, working at lower level jobs,
made me realize that I was living a life way below my potential. I then knew that I
needed to obtain a higher degree to do the things that I really wanted to do in life.
Therefore, I returned to school at Penn State University to an honors program in
engineering science. My struggles before I returned full time as a student are
reflected in my low GPA the first two years. However, I would like to point out to
the admissions committee that since returning full time, my GPA has been a 3.73,
The GPA in my major is 3.8 and my overall GPA has been raised to 3.48

The engineering science program at Penn State has provided a large number of
great engineering experiences. These experiences have provided a window for me
into research and graduate school. As such, it has inspired me to obtain a higher
degree. I was invited to work in Dr. Bernhard Tittmann’s laboratory as a junior.
There, I helped fabricate high temperature transducers that are used for non-
destructive evaluation. This research is applicable in nuclear power plants to help
increase safety by offering real time monitoring of high temperature piping. My
honor’s thesis is based on this research. I also have teaching experience. I assisted
in teaching a course in Dr. Tittmann’s lab on non-destructive evaluation. I have also
taken a graduate level course on the medical applications of ultrasonic devices. I
have also excelled in my engineering courses since coming to school at Penn State.
Therefore, I believe that I am well prepared for graduate school and have confidence
that I will be able to excel.

Future Goals
The engineering science provides a broader education than the tradition
engineering programs at most university. As such, I have been exposed to many
fascinating research areas. While I am not at a point where I have decided where to
specialize, I have interests in acoustics, thermodynamics, fluids, finite element
analysis and semiconductor physics. I feel competent to enter any of these areas of
research. My goals are to obtain a master’s degree and possibly a Ph.D. in
engineering science and mechanics. I realize that I have the aptitude to either work
in industry, academics or government at a higher capacity. It would be fair to say
that my plans are not set in stone. I just believe that at this time, what is best for me
is to first obtain a Master’s degree. I am very much interested in what Vanderbilt
has to offer in the area of mechanical engineering and hope to continue my
education at your campus.