Illinois Institute of Technology Application Personal Insight Statements
Why are you interested in Illinois Institute of Technology?
Illinois Institute of Technology Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department uniquely allows me to engage in hands-on practice of developing projects and gain knowledge outside of the engineering field. Courses such as Analysis and Design of Integrated Circuits and Artificial Intelligence and Edge Computing directly feed my interests in developing the skills to become an engineer. Innovating new ideas to benefit society has always been a dream for me. I hope to receive the building blocks from Illinois Tech to make my dream a reality.
I am eager to join the Illinois Tech Robotics and Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) clubs and be part of the like-minded peers who are just as passionate about acquiring and applying the knowledge they learned from the ECE program to a higher level. As a student who has no hands-on experience in anything technological, the passion of wanting to learn more about how to design, manufacture, and program an autonomous robot has grown immensely. I strive to push my physical and conceptual knowledge to participate in national and international competition levels, help my team to succeed, and increase the reputation of Illinois Tech worldwide. I am committed to using the knowledge I acquire from Illinois Tech Robotics and SASE to design and build the most cost-efficient agricultural vehicles not only for farmers back home in Malaysia, but also every other nation. Illinois Tech ECE’s faculty, along with the small tight-knit community of talented peers from all around the world, would bring out the best of me as I commit myself to their success.
Furthermore, ECE’s unique curriculum path provides me the flexibility to complete once-in-a-lifetime internships in Illinois. Due to my experiences at ECE and Interprofessional Projects (IPRO) offered by Illinois Tech, I would be ready to lead a team to empower them while taking on the world’s magnificent challenges to create a transformative technological world.
Tell us why you are pursuing your selected major. If you are undecided on a major tell us about the academic areas of interest to you.
Growing up in Malaysia, my father ran an agricultural seed and farm chemical company. Our house was a safe space for all the farmers to share their experiences and hardships. I witnessed first-hand how expensive the machinery was and the physical and financial toll on the farmers when they couldn't even afford to fix broken sensors and electronic chips. Seeing all the agricultural problems makes me emotionally and psychologically prepared to be an engineer and solve these issues. A desire to help them has burned in me ever since. I started researching machinery, electronics, and feasibility for chip design and development.
My interest in engineering really solidified when I won my first robot in a lottery, a cleaning robot, and along with it, an immense motivation to further my knowledge in the engineering field. Strangely, I was very excited when the robot broke down after a couple of uses. The curious seed of electronics in me blossomed as I took it upon myself to fix the robot. With wires and parts and a screwdriver, the complexity of the relation between electronics and software astounded me. However, with so many attempts at repair, I finally burned its circuits, yet in the process, my desire to pursue Electrical Engineering had grown immensely.
My burning passion didn't fizzle out over time, I fostered it through an internship at Advansia Drone Co.Ltd, an agricultural drone company. It was there I had the opportunity to closely examine drones' electrical designs and artificial intelligence systems. My desire to combine cloud computing and artificial intelligence to enhance agricultural technology for the farmers back home has never faltered. Taking STEM classes has furthered my expertise in EE, and I firmly believe that the world-class education at Illinois Tech will help me achieve my dream.