Statement of Purpose

I was nearly 12 years old and used to go school by my bicycle. I used to witness traffic jam daily
after school hours. It took me 25-30 minutes to reach home which was at a distance of just 1-1.5
km from school. Frustrated by this I asked my mother, what causes traffic jam? “Inadequate space
on roads. When number of vehicles exceeds road capacity, it causes traffic jam.” Answered my
mother. “Who builds such narrow roads?” curious child in me inquired. Civil Engineers was the
answer given by my mother. This was how I came to know about Civil engineering. I read about
the upcoming projects in newspapers and hence my interest grew in the field of Civil engineering.
After my schooling, I decided to pursue my bachelors in Civil Engineering and because of my
decent score in basic sciences, I was able to secure admission in one of the most prestigious and
reputed University of Gujarat, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University.

I learned fundamentals, scope and various branches of Civil Engineering in the freshman year.
After the freshman year, I did rural internship where I taught the underprivileged children Basic
English and Computer applications. I conducted a free health checkup camp and did numerous
social activities. I studied Surveying and Structural Analysis-I in my sophomore year. This subjects
spurred me to visit a construction site for better understanding of Civil Engineering. After my third
semester I interned at a construction site for 4 weeks, wherein I witnessed the various phases of
bridge construction such as concreting, reinforcement detailing, form work and making joints. I
did simple levelling using Total stations to ensure uniform slope of deck of bridge. Observing such
Marco level construction for easy transportation ignited a spark about transportation engineering
in me. To learn basics of bridge design, history of several important bridges of United States,
recent trends , I did an online course titled “The Art of Structural Engineering: Bridges” by
Princeton University. I successfully completed course with a score of 98%.

In my second year I attended various guest lectures, workshops and even participated in various
competitions. This grew my interest in Civil Engineering. To explore more, I took a project on
Concrete where in I replaced sand with moist marble dust. I completed the project successfully
and Wrote research paper on these findings to contribute to research globally. It is currently under
review in International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials, journal by Springer.
In my fifth semester, Transportation Engineering – I course struck a chord with me. My previous
experience of interning at Bridge site, project on Concrete and online course on bridges became
the driving force and generated my interest in this subject where I learned highway engineering.
Excited to know how each and every element of road we see is designed and how it helps to make
commuting better, I started reading news articles and research papers and subsequently I
discovered that the use of GIS is frequently done to understand and model road networks. To get
knowledge about GIS, I did an online course titled “Fundamentals of GIS” with complete
scholarship by University of California, Davis. I learned about several uses of GIS, fundamental
tools, basics of map making and other important terminologies in GIS and it increased my curiosity
in the field of Transportation Engineering.

Building on my interest in Transportation Engineering, I wanted to know how roads are designed
keeping scope for future demands. So, to learn about Travel Demand Forecasting, I did a project
on development of model for forecasting trip generation. It required home to home survey for data
collection. To compensate for all the expenses, I made a team of 3 members, proposed the project
in Office of Research and Sponsored Program (ORSP), PDPU. After evaluation, we received the
funding of ₹ 26000 for this project. We did regression modelling and generated an equation to
predict the number of trips. This equation can now be applied to predict the trips generated in
Ahmedabad. I wrote a paper on this and have submitted in VEHTIS 2018: 4th International
Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems which is under review.

The academic and practical exposure towards Transportation Engineering solidified my passion
and stimulated me to explore challenging avenues. In my sixth semester, I learned Transportation
Engineering – II which introduced me to different modes of Transportation other than road
transportation. In Ahmedabad, to resolve the problem of Mass transportation, Metro express in
being provided. To get better understanding about this project, I did a case study on Metro-Link
Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA Project). I compared the upcoming metro
system with the existing Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and analyzed how this metro project
will impact transportation system. I wrote research paper on same and presented it in an
International Conference hosted by American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in December,
2017 titled “Urbanization Challenges in Emerging Economies” in Delhi, India. I keep reading
research papers and articles to get comprehensive knowledge about transportation engineering. To
contribute in the field of Transportation Engineering I wrote a research paper on Vehicle Count. It
is selected in IPENZ Transportation Group Conference 2018, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Achieving academic and theoretical excellence, I assured that I do not lack in terms of Industrial
Experience. To ensure this, I interned at MaRS Enviro Research and Engineering Services Pvt.
Ltd., Ahmedabad. I learned material testing of fundamental building materials. I tested various
samples of soil and cement and made a report of it. I also learned basics of Soil Investigation by
visiting a site at Dholera, Bhavnagar. To get more knowledge about bitumen, commonly used
material in road construction, I did an online course titled, “Mastering Bitumen for better roads
and Innovative applications” by Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, oldest engineering school of France.
To understand behavior analysis, at present I am doing my final year project on Driver behavior
analysis and how it causes accidents.

For innovation and to make academics interesting, a bridge between academics and student
activities is necessary. To ensure overall development of all the students of Civil Engineering
department, I started a student chapter, Institute of Civil Engineers (I.C.E.) which was not active
since past two years. I managed to get a budget of Rs. 40,000 for complete year by proposing
innovative events and making a complete year plan of events. Under my President ship, I.C.E.
conducts various events and activities related to Civil Engineering.

Looking at my future, I wish to resolve the problems of Transportation and Traffic Engineering
globally and make this planet a better place. In my Bachelor’s degree, foundation of Transportation
engineering is set. To be an expert of Transportation, I need comprehensive and profound
knowledge about this branch of Civil Engineering. I wish to pursue Master of Science in Civil
Engineering in Transportation domain from one of the most reputed university of US, Arizona
State University. Accomplishment of Master’s degree from Arizona State University will help me
achieve my goal and make me complete and knowledgeable Civil Engineer with a mastery in
Transportation Engineering.

Arizona State University is well suited for me because of its comprehensive curriculum and
knowledgeable faculties. Aiming Research as my future goal, which university can be better than
the University ranked first in Innovation in US. Under the guidance of Mr. Ram Pendyala, I will
be equipped with profound knowledge in Transportation Systems Engineering. Expertise of Dr.
Ram Pendyala in Travel demand modeling and forecasting; Activity-travel behavior
analysis; Multimodal transportation planning and policy analysis will help me develop
solid knowledge in this field. Interacting with Dr. Michael Mamlouk will help me understand the
fundamentals of pavement design and it will make me capable of designing pavements. Subjects
such as Statistical Applications in Pavement Engineering and Sustainable Transportation System
will enhance my knowledge. It will make me Transport Engineer capable of competing globally.
In Addition to this, Moderate climate at Tempe will motivate me to perform better. I assure you
that I will try my best to add fame to the prestigious Arizona State University.