Harvard Graduate School of Design

Stanford Engineering Masters

Harvard Graduate School of Design
By: School of Architecture Candidate

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
- Robert Frost-

Have you ever taken the road less traveled? When you drive home from work, do you ever explore? Sure, it might take longer than usual, and there may be unpleasant stops along the way, but occasionally you will find an unexpected surprise. By casting aside strict conventions and routines and by taking risks, we can achieve things we never considered or thought possible.

I find that many people in our religiously capitalist society only seek the fastest, cheapest, and most efficient route. While some industries hire to increase diversity and thereby innovation, many dare not attempt anything new. In particular, many established architects and developers fear taking chances and fear the risk of failure inherent in untested methods. I, on the other hand, believe that architects must not feel constrained by the past but must follow-up on promising possibilities.

Exploring undiscovered methods and paths requires self-criticism, self-assurance, and courage. In my junior year in college, I doubted the teaching style of my instructor in my first design studio class. I felt as if he pushed his own rigid ideas into the students’ creations and did not allow the students the opportunity to pursue their own original designs. Fearing my intellectual growth might be stunted by his lectures and dissatisfied with his teaching, I basically taught myself design by researching and combing through hundreds of architecture books. Through my own studies, I came to realize that architecture should be learned, not preached. That semester, I further challenged myself by working on a design of my own creation, a design not assigned by my instructor. While it would have been easier to accept the instructor’s lessons and just follow his ideas, I realized that I could never take the easy way again now that I discovered that the beauty of architecture lies in learning it myself. That semester helped formulate my approach towards architecture and influence my design decisions to this day.

Although self-motivation is extremely important, seeking the guidance and critique of others is essential to good design since others can find what I may have overlooked. One critic who has been particularly crucial to the development of my work is Craig Scott, a Progressive Architecture Awards Winner in 1996,who worked together with Homa Fardjadi and Sima Fardjadi. Craig was my studio critic during the spring term of 1997. His instruction helped me achieve a level of design that I could not have attained from books alone. Of greatest importance, he taught me a combination of methodology and theory to the process of creating designs. He taught me to begin with a simple conceptual spatial model, then add site context and programmatic concerns to create an integrated building. The application of a methodology to the design process made my work more structured and rigorous than before.

In Craig’s studio, I designed a furniture workshop for downtown Ann Arbor that was chosen as an exhibit in the 1997 Summer Student Exhibition in the University of Michigan. Professors chose the most outstanding projects in their studio and put them in the exhibition. Although this was certainly not a major trophy, the exhibition represented my first accomplishment in the studio and was a milestone in my architectural career. When I saw my work in the exhibition room, all the failures and difficulties I had experienced seemed worth it. Later, I designed urban housing in downtown Ann Arbor for the fall studio 1997,which was also chosen as an exhibit in the 1998 Annual Student Exhibition. For that exhibition, entitled 'Taking Aim, ' each professor chose the best three projects from his/her studio. In the exhibition, the alumni of previous years and students from other architecture schools were invited to share our success. These exhibitions were important to me not only because my designs were chosen, but also because they gave me the opportunity to display my work before the most important critics of all -- the general public, which included the students and teachers from different years and different schools.

I plan to continue my studies at the graduate school level to have the opportunity to interact and share knowledge with students who are as focused and excited about architecture as I am. I have visited Harvard Graduate School of Design several times, and each time I left impressed and enlightened by the variety and complexity of the students' work. The work I saw at GSD had that same element of innovation and freshness that I strive for, the one that goes beyond the ordinary path. I want to be an explorer and to face challenges that I can solve with sheer will and creativity.

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Stanford Engineering Masters
By: Graduate School Candidate

During my senior year at Purdue University, I made a decision that has impacted the entire course of my education. While my classmates were making definite decisions about their career paths, I chose to implement a five-year plan of development and growth for myself. I designed this plan in order to examine various careers that I thought might interest me, as well as to expand upon my abilities at the time. As I was attaining a BS degree in Electrical Engineering, I decided to focus primarily on fields related to the VLSI (Very Large-Scale Integrated) circuits area. My main goals were either to gain work experience or to further my education by pursuing an MS degree in Electrical Engineering (MSEE). I saw an opportunity to both work and learn through employment at Xilinx Inc. Operating as a product engineer at a successful, high-tech semiconductor company has enabled me to utilize my technical and interpersonal skills in new and challenging ways. The position has also allowed me to interact with a multitude of departments including marketing, integrated circuit (IC) design, software/CAD development, manufacturing, reliability, accounting, and sales. I thus have gained an array of experience that extended beyond the parameters of my own responsibilities. In the workplace, I rely heavily upon the interpersonal techniques I developed as a counselor in a Purdue residence hall, as well as the organizational skills I had acquired through holding various leadership positions in cultural and engineering societies. I have also cultivated an interest in high-technology marketing that has continued to grow throughout my career.

My experiences with Xilinx have heightened my hunger for knowledge in the VLSI field. Two months after joining the corporation, I applied to several part-time programs in the vicinity that would allow me to acquire an MSEE degree within two to three years. San Jose State seemed an ideal choice, for its evening MSEE courses would allow me to pursue two independent, full-time positions concurrently. The San Jose program has complimented my Xilinx duties well; both demand large levels of energy and enthusiasm while guiding me to my ultimate goal a high degree of education in VLSI sciences. The resources that I poured into both endeavors have reaped many gains. I have been promoted to a Product-Yield Engineering position within Xilinx's Coarse Grain Static Memory (CGSM) Product Engineering division. My extensive coursework plays a key role in my continued success at Xilinx. Relevant classes in advanced digital and analog VLSI design, as well as sub-micron ULSI technology, have allowed me to understand more completely the workings of Xilinx, a fab-less semiconductor company that also functions as a software and hardware design, testing, and marketing center. The gains in knowledge I have made through the combination of work experience and education have indeed been exponential.

The academic records of my senior year at Purdue, coupled with my MSEE coursework, are ample proof of my dedication to learning. I feel I have overcome through hard work and dedication the brief "dry phase" I underwent at Purdue during the close of my sophomore and the first semester of my junior years. My performance at that time is in no way indicative of my usual achievements; they are instead the result of urgent family difficulties that required much foreign travel and serious attention to resolve. In May, I shall graduate with an MSEE degree from San Jose well ahead of my original estimates. This early graduation with Dean's Honors is the result of my firm belief in the value of diligence, as well as my renewed determination to strive for perfection in both work and school.

I am now embarking on another five-year plan, during which I hope to fulfill several specific career goals. For instance, being part of a very dynamic and results-oriented Yield team at Xilinx calls for continuous development of computational and statistical techniques. The Yield team is divided to focus on specific process/fabrication issues and process (manufacturing) optimization. My own position is an integral part of the optimization group. Speed and cost issues continue to press high technology atmospheres towards optimization, probability and stochastic processes and systems, and rigorous simulations of mathematical models. The MS in EES&OR offered at your university will grant me the statistical knowledge that is crucial for process and production optimization in a fab-less environment. In addition, product engineering requires fundamental research on mathematical models for linear and non-linear programming, as well as the utilization of efficient computer software. I continuously employ the knowledge I gained at Purdue in Operations Research and advanced mathematics courses. Yet despite the value of these classes and my high performance in them, I now require further education to best fulfill my duties. An MS in the EES&OR field, will give me knowledge that is invaluable to a career in product development, project management and strategic planning.

The program will allow me to improve decision-making skills in operations, strategy, and policy issues. I will strengthen my theory and application in countless areas:continuous, discrete, numerical optimization; probabilistic and stochastic processes; dynamic systems and simulation; economics, finance, and investment; decision analysis; dynamic programming and planning under uncertainty; operations and service; corporate and individual strategy; and private and public policy issues.Thus, the EES&OR program will not only help me to excel at Xilinx but will also further any future career. My commitment to work and education over the last three years proves that I will pursue this MS with enthusiasm and zeal.The technical edge that the MS would provide is incomparable.Since I will be working while attending Stanford, I shall mingle education with practical application, and bring to the table interesting problems from my experience and past education.

Technical challenges encountered through projects in the EES&OR program will provide motivation and opportunity for methodological innovation.The data collection, processing and presentation issues presented are integral to my future goals, and the management challenges raised will provide invaluable experience for professional practice. This will in turn build a solid foundation for a life-long career that can overcome any problem in decision-making. In addition, taking courses in economics, finance, and investment analysis will allow much growth of knowledge in investment issues in different industries. The EES&OR program thus appeals not only to my engineering, economics, science and mathematical background, but will compliment my technical abilities with the conceptual frameworks needed to analyze problems in operations, production, strategic planning, and marketing in the realm of emiconductor/IC/engineering systems. I feel that I am prepared to meet the challenges of the curriculum. My coursework in intermediate microeconomics and macroeconomics, international trade, operations research, linear algebra, and probabilistic methods, along with my extensive calculus background, will allow me to function well within the program.

My long-term career goals include a move into marketing and product management. I believe that attaining this MS degree is the cornerstone to achieving my goals. It will give me the academic background necessary to succeed in product development, project management, and strategic planning. It will improve decision-making skills necessary for optimizing performance. The integration of two excellent programs in Economics Systems and Operations Research thus suits my current position and ties in with future goals perfectly by improving decision making in operations, strategy and policy. At present I desire to continue at Xilinx; attending a program that provides the flexibility and convenience of the SITN, is therefore imperative. Hence, being at Stanford as an HCP student alsoattracts me. I believe that Stanford is the best environment for me to achieve my goals while gaining exposure to and experience with a diverse student body and faculty. It is my belief that one continues to learn throughout one's life, and the most effective method of learning is through interaction with others.

Stanford's diversity offers an environment for learning, both inside and outside the classroom. I hope to share my varied knowledge with my classmates and to take from them a new understanding of topics that are foreign to me. I believe that no other school provides students with the combination of education and environment offered by Stanford. Its outstanding academic reputation, mingled with its diverse environment and thriving Bay Area location, creates an opportunity for growth that is second to none. I have many ambitions for myself as I embark on this stage of my life. I believe that an education from Stanford will provide invaluable experiences and skills that will allow me to become a successful and innovative business leader in the new millennium.

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