PERSONAL STATEMENT
Joseph N. May Electrical Engineering Major Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47906
An engineer in the work force needs so many qualities. Of course, he or she needs extensive knowledge in their field, but also leadership skills, communication skills, and certainly not least a passion and curiosity for how and why things do what they do. On top of that, a little experience doesn't hurt. I propose that I have all these qualities in abundance, and that upon graduating from Purdue University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, I am certainly prepared for a job as an entry-level engineer. For as long as I can remember, I have been the “smart, math, and science” kid. From an early age, I expressed interest and curiosity in these subjects, especially to my mother, a high school math teacher. This curiosity matured as I entered high school and participated in math competitions. I qualified for the Illinois State Math Competition all four years and even placed ninth in state my sophomore year. Over the summer before my senior year, I attended a week-long electrical engineering program at Bradley University. This was my first exposure to the field, and I immediately fell in love. Until that point, I was contemplating which field of engineering I would pursue. By the end of that week, I had made my decision. As you will soon see, I have maintained this level of excellence and passion past high school and into my college career. Upon admission to Purdue's engineering program, because of my academic excellence, I received an invitation to take the honors First-Year Engineering Program. This is an opportunity to learn basic engineering skills, establish tools such as MATLAB programming, and to work on group projects with lego robots; and I got to work with very talented students as well as faculty. The course taught me many things no usual engineering course would, such as established time lines for projects using Gant charts, learning all the useful tool for Microsoft Excel that I might use, and giving group presentations to sell the idea my group came up with. I was once again invited to take the honors version of the intro-level electrical engineering classes, and I accepted without hesitation. While taking all the engineering courses I need, I spend the remaining open credits on math courses, even beyond the requirement to receive a minor in mathematics. Experience is possibly the most important thing employers look for in an engineer. I means that one can not only take a test and pass, but that he or she has applied their knowledge and can function in a real work environment with real problems and real people. Over the summer before my senior year, I had an internship at Schneider Electric. I worked at a plant that designs and builds transformers. I had some knowledge on transformers from classes; I understood how they worked and the different design parameters, but nothing really practical. I learned a great deal about how the real world works that summer. Most of my work involved new testing standards sent down from the Department of Energy. One specific problem that I had responsibility for was buying and setting up a new temperature detection system. I looked at different temperature probes, learned how they worked and decided which would best work for our situation, bought the new system and set everything up at the test sites, and trained the workers on how to use it. No classroom can teach that experience. I have been a member of Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corp. This program has given me more leadership skills and experience than anything I can imagine. Field Training is a summer program similar to Basic Training that evaluates your leadership abilities. There I received the award Superior Performer, meaning that I ranked in the top twenty percent at my training. I possess knowledge, leadership, passion, and experience. I am ready to be an entry-level engineer.
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