Professional Project

Applicant: XX  　Program: Materials, Chemical Engineering (XX, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d‘Arts et Métiers)

Knowing where one is heading in the course of navigation brings assured happiness. My proposed Master’s program in higher engineering studies at XX promises to give me firm and special groundwork for achieving professional excellence and a rewarding professional career. This much I believe.

Polymer materials, the field I specialize in, serves as the basis for polymer industry, one of the four major materials industries in the modern world. It has aroused increasing attention of the decision-making departments which are responsible for formulating policies of national economic development. This is because polymer materials have become an indispensable physical basis for improving the quality of people’s life of a nation and even for developing the industry of national defense. At present, the total output of synthetic polymer materials, consisting of three major categories--plastics, synthetic rubber and synthetic fiber—reaches 150, 000, 000 tons. In addition, polymer materials of fine or high value, or of special properties and functions, are also been rapidly developed, thereby enriching and expanding the field of polymer materials research.

There are two prominent characteristics about the research in materials science. There is first its close integration with the needs of the hi-tech development, and second its interdisciplinary nature. By developing multi-component polymer materials through alloying and compounding, researchers can compensate for the limitations of the single-component polymer materials and exploit the potential properties of the materials.

Six major areas of live research may be identified: a. highly innovative research on the polymerization reaction that produces controllable structure in the product and polymerization methodology; c. development of new approaches in the catalysis of biological enzyme, microbial fermentation, synthesis of trans-genetic plants, and the synthesis and modification of polymer materials; c. the basic research on the shaping of polymer materials and the development of new shaping approaches based on polymer physics; d, study on the coordination polymerization mechanism and related catalysis; e. study on the laws and conditions of structural and property changes of the polymer materials as a result of external stimuli and the development of polymer materials with new functions; and f. new structural design of non-covalent bond polymers (supermolecular aggregate) and basic research in assembly synthesis.

A clear understanding of the conditions of polymer materials research makes my prospective study well focused. I would like to conduct study and research of some of the foregoing areas and grasp the most advanced knowledge and expertise in those fields. Doing your program will put me on the cutting edge of the polymer engineering, allowing me to gain competitive edge over most of my peers.

Upon completing your Master’s program, I will definitely return to China to seek professional development. Ideally, I would seek employment with a French multinational company based on China or a joint venture with French backgrounds that operate in chemical engineering. This is highly possible because, with the increasingly close cooperation between China and France in chemical engineering, French companies will naturally look for those Chinese chemical engineers who possess a French background in engineering education and have sound knowledge of the chemical engineering industry in China. In this way, I will share with my prospective French colleagues a common French culture and professional ethics and collaborate in a congenial work environment. In seeking such an employment, my higher engineering studies in France will give me special advantages.

This kind of professional experience will allow me to work primarily in China. But there will be other important occasions. I will perhaps receive vocational trainings back in France. I will also perhaps lead teams of Chinese employees to receive professional training in France. Anyway, my professional experience will happen in a way that cuts across two cultures but in the same technical field.

For the first five years from the completion of my program, I wish my professional life to happen either in the realm of research or control. As a controller, I will be closely linked with production so that I will become familiar with the work flow. I will be able to know the problems that occur in actual production and will be able to solve them on the work site. I will understand to what extent chemical engineering technology can be applied successfully in productions processes. As a researcher, I will work at laboratories or design units. I will explore new technologies of chemical engineering, participating in projects on the development of new materials and on the formulation of technical standards. Where technology transfer is involved, I see myself as an effective link facilitating coordination between the Chinese side and the French side.

After first five years, having accumulated much professional experience, I would also like to venture into administrative work, focusing on performing responsibilities in the technical areas. I will contribute to the corporation’s decision-making processes from a technical perspective. As team leader or director of a particular department, I will assume responsibility for the implementation of specific engineering projects. I will exercise my comprehensive knowledge and skills in leadership, management, decision-making, coordination and control. In performing my administrative responsibilities, I expect to improve my ability to work independently. I am interested in administrative work because I am not interested in personal excellence alone. By acting as team leader or department director, I wish to unify the individual efforts of my subordinates into concerted undertakings to achieve common objectives. In this way, I can make contributions in ways other than engineering itself.

I believe this envisioned career path is a realistic one and I will make my best efforts to pursue it. It will not only permit me to contribute to the cause of chemical engineering of China, my native country, but also to reward the country which will have provided me with the most unparalleled education in engineering. And I can play my unique role in the Sino-French exchanges in education, technology and culture.