[Student Profile]
GPA: 3.5
SAT/ACT: 1480
Academic focus/Extracurricular activities: engineering, CS, robotics, cross country, nhs
[Prompt & Essay]
Explain your interest in the major you selected and describe how you have recently explored or developed this interest, inside and/or outside the classroom. You may also explain how this major relates to your future career goals.
I would like to major in computer engineering at UIUC. I spent a large portion of my childhood playing with electrical components. To supplement my growing fascination with electronics and engineering, I enrolled in multiple physics and computer science classes and joined my school’s robotics club.
Experience in my school’s robotics club was one of my most impactful extracurricular activities. Through competing in VEX Robotics Competitions, I grew to appreciate the process of designing, building, troubleshooting and refining. Every competition season began with a new game release and our team’s task was to create a robot that will outperform others. Watching an idea translate into a design and ultimately be refined into a streamlined robot made me realize that I could implement real solutions to real problems by applying engineering principles.
My coursework in physics and computer science reinforced my interest in computer engineering. In computer science class, I was excited to see how I could apply logic to create automated applications and games, such as a 3D maze and a weather app that retrieves real time data. I enjoyed learning about the practical applications of mechanics in physics classes.
My major in computer engineering would allow me to converge my interests of electronics, computer science, and physics into a career in developing more sophisticated robots with advanced sensory skills. It is truly fascinating how when robots are designed to replicate human senses, they can be used to solve problems that humans are unable to solve alone. One application of this is self driving cars. Most autonomous cars are currently able to maintain driving in lanes and keeping a distance from other cars using cameras and ultrasonic sensors to map their environment. I believe the future of cars will be fully automated. This would require countless sensors working together in harmony with the necessary software to learn from the data and make decisions needed for safer driving. Importantly, if designed well, automated passenger cars and delivery vehicles can make a significant impact in reducing carbon emissions by reducing inefficiencies in the driving process.
Reducing a simple inefficiency such as revving an engine or idling unnecessarily, across millions of vehicles over billions of miles year after year can have a huge impact on our planet. I am confident that my experience at UIUC will prepare me to solve the many problems I will encounter in this field.