Professional Statement for Ikuko Kitamura-McNair
My short term career goal is to work on a research project that has a substantial impact on creating next-generation computer central processing units (CPUs). I would like to attend a graduate school that allows me to pursue this goal and obtain a PhD. degree. In a long term, I aspire to work in industry to further develop the computer devices of the future.
My motivation for these dreams was kindled while working at Intel in their manufacturing and simulation software development sections after I received my first engineering degrees from Purdue in industrial engineering. People in the CPU industry constantly discuss “the red brick wall” that they would eventually run into: the wall symbolizes the limitation on how small a transistor could be made. We need a completely new technology. No incremental change to the traditional design would overcome such an enormous obstacle.
I felt this was my opportunity to start making a contribution. First, I needed a solid foundation. That’s what brought me back to Purdue to study electrical engineering. I am also enrolled in the physics program to build up my fundamental understanding of the nature of materials and electromagnetic (EM) waves.
During the course of my study, I spent two summers as an undergraduate research fellow. The first research involved building photonic crystals. This experience gave me a foundation to explore the possibility of using light as information carrier instead of electrons. During this internship, I was certified to operate clean room equipment, such as metal depositor and atomic force microscope. The second research topic was creating a graphical user interface for a program that simulated EM wave interactions inside the CPU. This project gave me a glimpse into how close we were to hitting the red brick wall by showing how EM waves in the tightly packed electrical lines of the CPU interfered with each other and created undesirable effects.
Aside from academics, my experience at Intel taught me valuable lessons. As a yield engineer in Intel manufacturing plant, I learned to communicate and team with all levels of the workforce, including technicians, engineers, and the management staff to implement numerous process changes to reduce errors and increase productivity. My manufacturing background enables me to design better CPUs because I have a good feel for manufacturing limitations. I gained entrepreneurial skills working for a small recreational vehicle (RV) manufacturer as a summer Technical Assistance Program (TAP) intern. At the RV plant, I worked directly with the vice president of technology to showcase process improvement techniques, such as CAD drawing, time studies, and plant simulations. Working at Panasonic in Osaka, Japan, I witnessed a whole different way to work in another culture, even though I grew up in Japan and studied English and American studies at a college there.
To round out my experience, I do set time aside to enjoy life as a member of Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), an electrical engineering honor society, and Society of Women Engineers (SWE). I have held officer positions in both.
I believe my solid academic preparation in electrical engineering and physics at Purdue University, further enhanced by my diverse professional experience providing interpersonal skills such as communication and team orientation, makes me a successful candidate for rigorous career in graduate school and beyond.
