Statement Of Background And Goals University Of Tennessee Knoxville Ms

Statement of Background and Goals University of Tennessee Knoxville MS program in Electrical Engineering, fall 2010 Focus on Power Systems Student applicant – Vipul Ujjiyel Gholap Frustration has accompanied me every single day of my school and college life. My community has been subject to severe power cuts over the last few years. Often, my preparation for examinations was hampered, my mother had difficulty cooking meals – it was not easy. And all of these happening in Mumbai, one of India’s premier cities, only made me wonder about the state of other regions. Over time, I have committed myself to the cause of power generation and distribution, to bring clean power to all homes in India. To this end, in the long-term, I see myself join the Government of India as a technocrat adviser in the Energy and Power department. My short-term goal is to work for corporations like ABB or General Electric, where I can grow and enhance my knowledge in power system applications and the control systems involved in it. Specifically, I wish to work in the John F. Welch Technology center of the General Electric in Bangalore. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited is another place which holds the lure of practicing principles of productive engineering. Post high school, I began studying Electrical Engineering at VJTI and have exploited every opportunity in the last four years to maximize my learning’s. My professors have helped me navigate through elaborate coursework and a number of relevant projects and research. In the second year of my program, the course in Electrical Machines fascinated me with its applications like motors, generators, alternators and transformers. Experiments in the subject lab further strengthened my basic concepts and were complemented by the Industrial visit to Crompton Greaves Co., leading manufacturers of electrical machines in India. Application of semiconductor power devices in various industrial drives also interested me a lot. I have also delivered seminars on various topics in electric machinery. Another visit to the Jayakwadi Hydro Power Plant gave me an understanding of hydropower generation. The technical challenges and the triumphs of the Hydro power project greatly amazed me. My interest in power and energy increased greatly thereafter and I read extensively on energy and power systems. In continuation with my interest, my final year project is an energy audit of the Electrical Engineering department of V.J.T.I. It assumes

significance due to the fact that V.J.T.I’s power consumption has increased during the last few years. The audit is aimed at obtaining a detailed idea of the end use energy consumption activities and identifying, enumerating and evaluating energy saving opportunities. The target is to achieve savings in the energy consumption of the Electrical engineering department to the extent of 20%. Simultaneously, with my final year project, I am working on a POWER QUALITY SENSOR using a microcontroller. Besides, I am actively involved in research on Random Walks in Electrical Networks under Dr. N. M. Singh. This particular field of research has interested me because it links the probability theory to electrical networks. Using the probability theory as a tool for solving some of the basic electrical networks has already been achieved. We are further expanding this theory for applying it to the large, infinite networks. The first stage of the research is to establish a connection between electrical concepts of current and voltage and corresponding descriptive quantities of random walks. Further the research aims on solving infinite networks and also to link the probability theory with some of the basic network theorems. I am keen on investigating how different systems are linked to each other and how can we use this common chain to solve some of the major problems smartly. The complexity of a network, if solved by using the probability theory would certainly be a boon. The research has helped with my long term goal of developing a SMART POWER GRID wherein each entity would be connected to a particular grid. The interconnection of many systems to the grid will increase the reliability and efficiency of the whole system. Nationwide array of TALKING GRIDS will certainly make my country energy sufficient as well as energy efficient. It is such practicable projects that I wish to work on even at graduate level. Since the American education system primarily focuses on the practical applications of existing concepts and promotes innovative research, I aspire to study here. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with its excellent research facilities at the Power Engineering Laboratory, strives for developing new technologies. Prof. Yili Liu research interest in Power Systems and Smart Grids has further incited me to apply. I would also like to work under Dr. Fei Wang in the field of Motor Drives. I am sure that my graduate research work will help me eventually alleviate the power problems around the world.