Personal Statement
 Program: Computer Science

God created man who, in turn, created computer. Throughout human history, there has been no creation so akin to human brain as the computer. It might be asserted with much safety that the invention of computer, together with the development of computer science and technology, represents yet another major stage of human evolutionary process. Of course, the power of any single “brain” is limited. Through the interconnection and interactivity created by the computer network, it becomes possible for man utilize the distributive computer technology to realize the sharing of resources and data. In this way, the overall function of the computer network is expected to be expanded to an inconceivable extent. To my understanding, this is the subject of study that is likely to produce the most significant impact on the destiny of man. At present, relevant computer theories and technologies still await to be developed and perfected through the concerted efforts of all the computer researchers and scientists. In this undertaking, the most precious asset is undoubtedly those human minds with the greatest inspirations.

Although by no means a child prodigy, I did demonstrate a level of intelligence and intellectual capacity much above the average level of my peers. When a fifth grader in the elementary school, I distinguished myself from the rest of more than a thousand fellow students in my city to enter an experimental class specially created for a small number of students with unusually high intelligence quotient where they were offered middle school courses. At the age of 16, earlier than average Chinese students by two years, I took the national university entrance examination and among a total of 80,000 participants in our province, I was ranked top 3% and was admitted into the XX University, arguably the best university in China’s western region. I chose to specialize in computer science and technology at the Department of Automatic Control, concentrating on computer networking. Out of my strong interest in high-speed WAN and Distributed Software Systems, I specifically focused on computer systems and information confrontation technology since I became a junior student. This strong interest has led me to have laid a solid theoretical foundation in both of these fields.

In my studies, I have made a special expectation of myself, that is, I must aspire not to be a craftsman in a given field, but be a creator. As a consequence, throughout my four-year undergraduate program, I have always tried to find novel approaches in dealing with specific problems, and this has become the greatest source of motivation and pleasure in my studies. In doing a course project for Data Structure, I was assigned to work on programming a calculator that can perform basic computation on the matrix. Unlike most other students who used the array to perform storage computation, I used the tuple as the central part of the input/output module. In this way, space complexity was markedly improved and the entire computing process was much simplified. In another instance, when doing experiment on designing a high-precision electronic time-calculator, I deliberately refused to consult existing technical designs. By collecting and studying various technical literature concerning integrated circuits, I eventually used 555IC output pulse and achieved the standard time through frequency demultiplier. Later I discover that my design coincided perfectly with the standard design. In doing coursework on Computer LAN, TCP/IP Protocol, and Computer Communication, I had the initiative to offer voluntary work on computer maintenance and management at our university’s computer center. In this ideal experiment environment, I carried out a great deal of experiments to test my designs, such as cryptographic network data transmission and its efficiency, and performance comparison by means of specific data samples. Although I have not yet published any formal research paper, those rich practical experiences significantly add up my research potential.

The success of those independent and innovative attempts has considerably enhanced my confidence to develop myself into a computer specialist. But I have always been clearly aware that creative inspiration is just the match to set off a successful “explosion” and the powerfulness of the explosion depends primarily on the amount of the dynamite. Guided by this principle, I have made consistent efforts to do a good job in all the foundational courses and specialized courses，with a high GPA of 86.88/100 in those courses, and winning first- and second-class scholarships and honors of Outstanding Student of the University for a number of times. At the same time, I attended training programs offered by Microsoft, APC, Autodesk and Cisco and within two years I obtained five certifications—Autodesk’s 3D Studio Max, Microsoft Certified Professional, APC Certified Technician, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, and Cisco Certified Network Associate. In the CCNA exam, I obtained the rare full mark of 1000 points.

My theoretical buildup and hands-on abilities have allowed me to undertake my graduation project from a high vantage point and on an extensive but solid foundation. To undertake my project, which is entitled The WEB Realization of Model-View-Controller (MVC) Design Pattern in J2EE System Structure, my project, I first made a comprehensive comparative study of all major distributed object technology represented by COMBA, J2EE, and .NET and ultimately decided to use the Java2 Platform Enterprise Edition which is superior to other technologies for its unparalleled openness, trans-platform quality and security. Within several months, I consulted all the available technical materials and grasped this huge industrial standard. To work out the problem of vague division of various functional modules and high degree of systems coupling inherent in the design pattern, I innovatively introduced the MVC design pattern in the SmallTalk language program design into the development of the application program of the enterprise Web. By subdividing the entire application system into a number of modules and clearly defining the means and the substance of inter-module communication, my design significantly reduced the degree of systems coupling, and improved the programming efficiency while enhancing the performance of the distributed application. The comprehensive transaction platform that I finally completed realized the successful operation of the many operating systems. Commented by the Thesis Evaluation Committee as “displaying original design concepts and effective program realization indicative of important research potential in computer science”, I was awarded a high mark of 92 points in a 100-point grading system.

In studying the distributed system, I have looked up relevant reference materials both at home and abroad and my investigations reveal that important gaps exist between China and advanced western countries in this field. In terms of theoretical research and development of mature commercial systems, most Chinese research institutes and organizations are simply following the footsteps of foreign countries. In order to develop my academic potential and to seek a fruitful career in the future, I have decided to pursue an Master’s program in computer science in Great Britain and my careful survey of those top-ranking universities offering such programs convinces me that the University of XX ’s Computer Systems and Software Engineering Specialism, with its concentrations on distributed system, and parallel computing fits perfectly with my past educational background and research interest.

In my proposed program, I would like to focus on computer system, software engineering, and computer theory, with special emphasis on computer network and distributed application. The courses I intend to take include Distributed Systems (DS), Computer Networking (CN), Parallel Architectures (PA) so that I can acquaint myself with the recent theoretical findings in computer science. I am also interested in such course as Communication and Concurrency (COC), and Distributed Computation for Cognition (DCFC) to enhance my research capacity. Besides doing coursework, I also hope to participate in actual research programs of my potential advisor. Through coursework and research, I believe that the University of XX, one of the oldest universities in the UK, will endow me with the most updated computer knowledge and skills necessary for fulfilling my ambition to become a computer specialist in tomorrow’s rapidly developing computer world in China.