Prannoy S

Statement of Purpose
For MS in Structures in Arizona State University

Ever since I remember, I wanted to be a Civil Engineer. As a child, I used to see skyscrapers and
dream of building them myself. Im surely not the only one; many kids have similar thoughts.
The wish to create is inherent in all of us, and we are ambitious by nature, so we aim for the
skies. In that aspect, Civil Engineering can be considered mans way of paying homage to the
creator. Many years have passed, I am almost done with my Bachelor of Technology in Civil
Engineering, and I have to choose which road to take. However, I have not forgotten my dream. I
took the decision to do my masters in Civil Engineering a couple of years ago, and I intend to
stick with it - I will go down the Civil Engineering Road.

Maths, Physics and Chemistry were my favorite subjects in school and junior college. I prepared
for the Indian Institute of Technologys Joint Entrance Exam (IIT JEE) during that period. I
cleared the exam by a combination of intelligence, hard work and luck. I chose the Civil
Engineering Branch at IIT Madras, and I was happy with my choice.

In my four years at IIT M, Ive done a lot of Civil Engineering courses, but two of them are very
special. The first was Building Materials and Construction, taught by Prof. Manu Santhanam.
Concrete Technology, taught by Prof. Ravindra Gettu was the second. I also found the
Construction Materials lab most interesting. I loved Construction Materials for its applicability
and practicality. Plus, they form the backbone for any building. There was also a lot of research
going on the field - Self Compacting Concrete, Fiber Reinforced Concrete and more. Also, the
results were very tangible and immediate- if you came up with a proper mix designs, you could
potentially start off your building. I decided that this was what I wanted to spend my life doing.

Research forms a very important part of engineering. In my second year (May and June 2006),
under the guidance of Prof. Manu and Prof. Gettu, I worked on Compressed Stabilized Earth
Blocks (CSEBs), brick like blocks made from locally available soil and stabilizers like Cement,
Lime and FaLG (a mixture of Fly ash, Gypsum and Lime). The objective was to use them as
simpler, economical, energy efficient alternative to bricks. It was found that cement and FaLG
blocks were feasible alternatives, although further studies had to be done. Then, I worked under
Prof. Gettu on low cost SCC, made without any fly ash and minimum feasible cement content.
Different Super Plasticizers and Viscosity Modifying Admixtures were used to get the optimum
mix design. This project was done in two phases, June and December of 2006.

My summer internship was at Sika India, a subsidiary of Sika AG, a global US $ 4 Billion
Construction Chemicals company. I worked in Chennai and Bangalore, in the lab and on various
sites. I used SPs, Retarders, VMAs, and Air Entrainers to get compatible concrete mix designs to
satisfy the clients requirements of slump, slump retention, setting time, and strength.

My Bachelors Project, under Prof. Ravindra Gettu, is to check Admixture Cement Compatibility
in SCC using Portland Pozzolana Cement. PPC is used to reduce the number of variables by one.
Various SPs and VMAs are used and the objective is to find the best possible admixture - cement
combinations with reference to flow, flow retention and strength. The SP and VMA dosages are
optimized using the Marsh Cone test.
This apart, Ive also been involved in several extra-curricular activities. Im an avid Quizzer and
Ive taken part in several quizzes and also conducted one quiz each at the IITs Technical and
Cultural fests. Im the Joint Secretary of the Civil Engineering Association, a body of the civil
engineering students at IIT Madras, which conducts activities throughout the year, culminating in
a three day technical fest in March. As Joint Secretary, I have to ensure smooth running of the
organization through the year. Ive been involved with the association from my first year here.

In the last six months, Ive given a great deal of thought about where to do my masters. Ive gone
through a lot of University websites and Professor home pages. I was very impressed by Arizona
State Universitys Structures Department and Professors. Prof. Apostolos Fafitis and Prof. Barzin
Mobashers research interests are similar to mine. Prof. Mobashers research on blended cements
closely matches the research work Ive done and my Bachelors Project. Hence, I wish to do my
masters in ASU.

Ive learnt many things at IIT M - coping with competition from the best students of India, the
importance of hard work, perseverance, how to lead and be part of a team, and self-confidence.
These qualities, along with strong academic fundamentals give me confidence that I will be able
to fulfill the academic and research requirements of ASUs Structures Master of Science
Program and be of maximum possible utility to the University. I feel that this will be of great
assistance to me in my ultimate goal of making a major contribution to the Construction Industry.