Letter of Motivation

Name
Semester
Program

: Ashish Kurian
: Winter 2015
: M.Sc. Communications Engineering

I am a person who gets interested in anything amazing and this quality in me has led to my
interest in the subject of Physics. The world of science always fascinated me and raised many a
questions in me. From my early childhood, I was very much captivated with electronic appliances around
me and I used to ask my dad (who is also an electronics engineer) about their principle of working. And
when I understood the basics of the phenomenon, I realized how important an engineer is in shaping
our world as we see it today. And as I learnt science further in my intermediate education, I understood
that mathematics is an integral part of science; and that both are the two sides of the coin. Therefore,
since then, I had set my mind on the Electrical Engineering domain. The enthusiasm to understand the
mystery behind the design and operation of electronic gadgets incited me to enroll myself for a
Bachelor's Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering at Rajagiri School of Engineering and
Technology, affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University. Now I have decided to further enhance my
knowledge in this field of Engineering by obtaining a Master's degree in Communications Engineering
and then pursue a Doctoral degree in the same.
I believe that modernizing our communication technologies will increase our industrial efficiency,
and in the end will help India to break off from the "developing nation" title, and become one of the
prosperous countries in the world. In India there are places that are still isolated from the outside world
and due to this lack of communication with those parts, it becomes very difficult to carry out the rescue
operation in times of an emergency. In order to assist my country, I have decided to take my Bachelor
degree to the next level, and set a Master degree in the field of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
(with a focus on Communications Engineering) as my next target. Because I am sure that obtaining a
masters degree in this field of study will help me to gain a solid competence in the world of
Communications Engineering. After the completion of my master's degree, I intend to further hone my
knowledge of the field by pursuing a doctoral degree in the same field of study (and also a couple of
years of research, after the completion of my doctoral studies), before I return back to my homeland
and work for the prosperity and wellbeing of the country.
The courses offered in this master's program at your University is of great interest to me. I have
determined that a dedicated study in Signals, Systems and Communication under the tutelage of
Dr.-Ing. Mathias Wien and Information Theory and Source Coding under the tutelage of Dr.-Ing.
Christiane Antweiler would enable me to achieve my research and career goals. In term of engineering
environment, RWTH Aachen University is located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, one of the states
in Germany that is well known for its strong Universities-and-Industries relationship, not to mention that
Germany is a country that has a great reputation in the field of sciences and engineering. Furthermore
the number of journals published from RWTH Aachen University reveals the quality of education
received at RWTH Aachen University. The faculties in your university have deep and rich experience in
their respective fields and are renowned as the best in the world. It is self-evident from the number of

awards and prizes secured by its professors. That is why I believe that doing my graduate studies in
RWTH Aachen University will be a huge benefit for me, because it has all the factor that I am searching
for: solid curriculum, solid tradition in engineering, and great environment to do my master and doctoral
studies.
Throughout my schooldays, I performed consistently well in studies and scored a high 91.8% in
CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) examination. After securing a remarkable 84% in my
AISSCE (All India Senior School Certificate Examination) with 84%, I decided to pursue a bachelor's
degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering at Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology,
affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University. I performed well during my bachelor's study and stood within
the top 10% of my class. My performance and efforts in Laboratory Experiments that were part of my
curriculum were greatly appreciated by the faculty and Department alike. Also I was among the chosen
few who had the wonderful opportunity to undergo an internship at ITI (Indian Telephone Industries).
There I was given classes and training on various Switching Systems (ISDN, PABX), Access Systems (Wll Wireless Local Loop, CDMA, Broadband, FHMA) and Defense Equipments (Military PCM, VSAT Very
Small Aperture Terminal, and Primary MUX). My tenure at ITI proved instrumental in boosting my
knowledge and experience in various communication systems and technologies. I was a part of the IEEE
Student Branch of my college. The branch provided me many opportunities to attend technical
workshops and seminars conducted by eminent personalities. I played a significant part in the
organization of a Technical Festival and workshops for our juniors. As part of my curriculum during the
last year of bachelor's course, I favored the subjects- Principles of Real Time Systems and Embedded
Systems and this has provided me the platform on which I can base my master's study in
communications engineering.
I have always known that, we can improve our world if we can improve the way we
communicate. History has shown us that effective and timely communication has saved countries from
war. So I always wanted to do something that could improve our daily life and make us safer. And with
this in mind, as part of my curriculum I designed a Wireless Attendance System during my 3rd year of
bachelor's study. With this system, we could improve the speed at which attendance is registered in the
class. Also we could avoid the use of a pen and paper for marking the attendance. This system utilized
ZigBee communication technique to register the attendance. Then as part of my main project I designed
an Ignition interlock system using helmet Breathalyzer- which ensures that one cannot ride their
motorcycle without wearing a helmet. In addition it also prevents the rider who had consumed alcohol
from riding. This system also utilized a wireless communication system to communicate between
different sensor units.
Germany is a place where quality stands second to none and so is their educational system. In
my work place I had interacted with German people and I found them very punctual. The research
opportunities provided in Germany cannot be compared with what is provided in my home country. A
degree by itself is not a guarantee that I will achieve my goals, but I believe that a masters degree at
this stage will lay the foundation with which to do so. On my part, I can assure that I will prove to be a
good student, by working both industriously and intelligently towards fulfilling the course objectives. I
shall consider it to be my privilege to be admitted to the illustrious RWTH Aachen University.