STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

My decision to apply for a PhD in computer science at your university is driven by an

unwavering passion to pursue a life long career of research and tutelage in academia. I
am in my final year of my undergraduate computer science journey and this comes after a
lot of deliberation on the freedom in academia to research and innovate. This is clearly
lacking in the industry where frustration can arise from the many rules and limitation
even as an intern. I understand the tenacity and perseverance this demands as I have
worked with several graduate students and some professors. I somehow have found
contentment in this milieu of scholars and plan on staying. With a concrete bachelors in
computer science and minor in mathematics! I am assured of the dynamic scientific
background needed. My objective therefore is to establish a solid research foundation
within the ne"t couple of years specifically in the branch of artificial intelligence and
machine learning. I am anticipating one solid enough to support me through a dynamic
career in academia! research and periodic consulting. It is lucidly obvious that Duke
ranks eminent among the few institutes poised with such prowess # hence my choice.
Interestingly my educational path as an undergraduate started in bioengineering #
consistently topping all of my classes I had the big dream of pioneering human re$
generation as seen in crustaceans and other regenerative organisms. I was hoping to
isolate the gene responsible for regeneration and integrating it into the human genome. I
transferred schools and joined Dr.%ictor Mbarika research group with intentions of
debuting this research in the field of Tele$Medicine. &iven its delicate nature the labs and
related facilities incurred a little delay. With the 'ualities of a fast learner able to
contribute effectively in varied working environments! I hopped aboard and 'uickly
caught up with other research the team was doing. This centered on the practical
implementation of computer science and information technology to solve real life
problems # hence Tele$(ducation! Tele$Medicine etc. I actively participated in the Tele
(ducation work with lots of literature review! interviews! 'uestionnaires and seemingly
unending ground data collection. )s a result! I served as a panelist of one of the
prestigious conferences *)+I+,T- where one of the papers was accepted. In .//0 with
some team members we attended conferences in Paris and 1ameroon to present on going
research on the unintended conse'uences of technology and global diffusion of the
Internet. The field of Tele Medicine actually seeks to improve and innovate technology in
healthcare delivery. +o heading on for greater things! I am confident that speciali2ing in
branches like artificial intelligence and machine learning will enable me effect salient
contributions to knowledge! technology and humanity in these multidiscipline fields.
)fter transferring schools as earlier mentioned! I took my first programming course. It
was to me a new realm of enlightenment having had no previous e"posure to
programming of any kind. I immediately switched majors but still maintained a keen
interest in the natural sciences. My interest steadily grew as I took courses like Discrete
+tructures! 1ombinatorial Mathematics! Programming 3anguages! 4perating +ystems!
1omputer )rchitecture as well as an )rtificial Intelligence elective! which formally
e"posed me to this whole new frontier of computer science. It was offered primarily as a
research based class in which my project focused on 56uilding a coherent network
architecture for mobile autonomous robots7. I investigated the implementation of a
mobile ad hoc network in which the independent robots can communicate in a peer$to$
peer manner using I((( 0/..88 wireless technologies by passing centrali2ation. I viewed
each of these different e"periences and opportunities as cumulative in concreti2ing my
background and honing my skills for a more intuitive research career.
The groundbreaking work going on in your department cannot be over praised. +ome of
the research like the work on M(M+! Micro robotics and specifically the paper on
5+tructure$based protein 9M: assignments using native structural ensembles7 by Dr.
1onit2er and Dr. 6ruce is intellectually inspiring to a budding generation of scientific
researchers like ours. It was to me in particular both a motivation and a challenge to
contribute more refined knowledge through dedication and research. ;ou will agree with
me that paramount to any successful graduate school e"perience is the symbiotic
relationship that brews between the students and the department. I also strongly believe
that a successful research career is the product of unrestricted scholars coupled with an
intellectually stimulating atmosphere. ;our department offers this sort of conducive niche
in which if given an opportunity I am confident of contributing salient and novel concepts
to the work already in gear. It will be my utmost honor to have you distinguished faculty
guide me through this process.
<inally! I am fully aware of the endurance and perseverance entailed in this noble pursuit.
I understand the commitment to which I am binding my self. 4ne of resolve and
resilience! putting in what it takes to improve obsolete methods or even postulate more
efficient one. I am highly in'uisitive by nature but am willing to be patient searching out
answers and solutions even if only for the gratification and fulfillment it brings me.
1ombined with past teaching e"perience as shown on my resume! the sense of
satisfaction I get only draws me to one comely conclusion. My future lies in academia
and research= I can only hope I begin this future at the magnificent Duke >niversity.