University of Minnesota, Fall 2014My tryst with civil engineering began with a stint at my uncle's company, “Transys Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd.', specializing in infrastructure construction. Over the years, my experience working in some areas of construction sparked in me a deep interest and zeal to study civil engineering and eventually made it my career choice. I completed my undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering from SRM University which is an ABET, USA Accredited Course. Pioneering courses such as solid mechanics and strength of materials laid the foundation for structural engineering. I was also intrigued by the structural analysis and earthquake resistance and special structures courses. So, I decided to pursue my studies in structural engineering and adopt it as a career option. During my final year, I had the opportunity to lead a team working on a project titled “Analysis and Design of a Colony Water Supply System”. We analyzed the water source, designed the water intake structures such as RCC ground level tanks, RCC overhead tanks, planned a distribution network and prepared a comprehensive cost estimate. During this project, I gained valuable experience using professional software like STAAD.Pro, EPANET and AutoCAD. My knowledge expanded further with 2 internships of 2 weeks each that I completed during my studies. The first internship was at Trident and Oberoi Hotels, Hyderabad where I was involved in the design and execution of pile foundations and pile load testing activity. As a result, I understood the construction sequence of a cast-in-place bored pile and its respective load testing using the Kentledge method. My second internship was at the Airport Authority o...... middle of paper ......Structures, seismic structure design, prestressed concrete structure design and bridge engineering. Your university brochure and department website suggest senior professors with sophisticated research facilities. I am really interested in Dr. Arturo E. Schultz's research on health monitoring of transportation structures, and with my knowledge of transportation structures, I want to eventually work with him. This admission to the University of Minnesota will ultimately help me realize my dream of becoming an entrepreneur and having a structural engineering consultancy, specializing in cost-effective and optimized structural design, especially for infrastructure projects civil. Considering my strong academic knowledge and industry experience, I request you to consider my application for a master's degree in civil engineering at your prestigious university..