Masters in automotive engineering – a major step in career

Alan Turing once said “ Machines take me by surprise with great frequency” and it is the same with me too. The love towards machine germinated in me during my childhood days as my grandfather who used to work for Indian Railways took me to see the locomotive’s engine which was stationed in my native place and I was astounded by the engine’s dimensions and design. Later I started questioning myself about ‘ how does these machines work?’ and ‘ what are these machines made off?’ I got the answers in the encyclopaedias and also came across different type of automobiles in the book. From then I started loving machines and developed a genuine passion towards automobile. Driven by the desire to know more about the principle and working of the machineries I enrolled myself in Mechanical Engineering for my bachelorette degree.

Although I had passion for automobiles, it has become my obsession over the initial stages of my undergraduate study when I learned about the in-depth working of automotive engines and also by fabricating ‘ Sterling Engine’ for a project expo during my first semester. From then I started to gain knowledge on automobiles from various sources which also included books such as ‘ Race Car Vehicle Dynamics (RCVD)’ by William F. Milliken Jr. and ‘ Tune to win’ by Carroll Smith. The unquenchable thirst to learn more about automobiles made me to enroll myself in Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Being an active member of SAE, I attended various lectures and workshops conducted by industry professionals. This cultivated interest in me to understand the working and manufacturing process of various components in a more practical way and also in an industrial surrounding, so I went through the doors of various renowned companies for my in-plant training. The first place was Simpson & Co. Ltd, 1st Indian company to manufacture diesel engines for surface transport vehicles. There I learned about the assembly of engines and also the process involved in manufacturing individual engine components (Cylinder head, cam and crank shafts, engine block etc. ). Secondly, at Ashok Leyland Ltd. , a leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles where I learnt about the full industrial process of manufacturing individual components, full assembly of commercial vehicles and also the quality check and testing procedures involved. At last in Chennai Ford, a Chennai based Ford retailer. I did my training in the service bay and practically gained knowledge about the troubleshooting for various components in a car.

Those in-plant trainings motivated me to apply the gained knowledge in real life scenarios by undertaking various projects. In my junior year I did a project on Vehicle Door Safety (Mechanism used to improve safety while closing and opening of vehicle’s door by the help of sensors). My senior year project was ‘ Manipulation of Vehicle Dynamics by Aerokits’ where we as a team of 4 designed and fabricated a gokart. We also installed custom aerokits to alter the vehicle dynamics if needed.

Also during my third year I was selected as SAE college club’s vice president and was chosen from all of mechanical department to lead a team of 25 members to represent our college in SAE Supra (A national event organised by organised by SAE India took place in Budh International circuit, India). We designed and fabricated all the components which were used to assemble a single seat formula student vehicle. This helped me a lot to improve my skills in problem solving, time management, team work and leadership. After the event I conducted a seminar on behalf of SAE college club to teach about the various process involved in designing and fabricating of components in a Formula Student car to my fellow juniors. Over the time period I improved my skillset by learning softwares such as Lotus shark, Autocad, Catia, Hypermesh and basics of Ansys. Other than my academic and co-curricular activities, I used to be in Eco club during my high school and also represented my school and college in various football tournaments which makes me an excellent team player.

I want to streamline my career and become an automobile engineer who will put his efforts to develop strategic solutions for global challenges and my research will be in accordance with manufacturing combustion cars for greener environment. Thus a Masters in Automotive engineering degree from UK will provide me with in-depth knowledge both practically and theoretically. It also provides the global exposure to work and share knowledge with the professors and students from all over the world under one roof. Apart from this I used to adore UK from my childhood days due to its culture, tradition, infrastructure and also the international exposure. Given an opportunity I would definitely use the knowledge gained to bring accolades to the university.

My ultimate aim is to start a company manufacturing environmental friendly combustible automobiles. I firmly believe that a degree from your esteemed university would take me closer to achieving that dream.