Scholarship

Research and projects I have carried out inspired me to pursue a second bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, and once I successfully graduate, I will make an application to join a graduate school. Five years ago, at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, I started developing more interest to study electrical and electronics, and this inspired me to enroll for a degree in Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology. My choice for this field of study was driven by the fact that it equipped the learners with more relevant experience and practical skills required in the electrical and electronics field. Therefore, I was able to acquire more skills and practical experience in this field, because every class enabled me to design and various projects. Developing and testing different experiments that facilitated my understanding of the real global needs. The decision to pursue this field of study took me almost five years, but I was determined to complete all the steps required in my career.

Even though the first two years were not hard, I had to dedicate most of my time to classes and focus more on learning. I was always competitive and focused on succeeding, and this could be seen from the fact that I was involved in robotics and systems design contests. My first robotics competition was in 2009, sophomore year. This was a senior IEEE Region 5 Robotics Contest, and I could not be involved in the design process (“Robotics Rules”, 2012). Even though I was still a junior by then, I actively helped in doing research and testing some robot’s parts, and this made me to be considered as part of the UALR’s robotics team. Moreover, the competition equipped me with relevant skills and experience on sensors, data acquisition, programming, and power electronics, which are necessary for this field of study.

My first achievement at the engineering school was when I managed to design my first robot. This was the best project for the sophomore year, because it was more creative and competitive. Moreover, I maintained a high GPA that allowed me to be in the Dean’s list for two consecutive years. However, everything changed at the beginning of my junior years, because I started working as an electronics technician and a waiter. The reason for taking these two jobs was to raise more income to support my poor family, thus making it hard to concentrate on my studies. As a result, my GPA went down for the last two years.

My second robot competition did not win since it was too slow, but it was a great learning experience, because I learnt that when designing a project complexity does not always work. However, my tight schedule of work and difficult courses did not allow me to participate in the 2011 robotics contest. Therefore, I am looking forward to 2012 IEEE Region 5 robotics competition since I am in my senior year. It is interesting to note that I started working on this project on October 2011. This last project really inspired me, because it was like a real world problem. Moreover, this project required theory and practical experience such as mathematical experience, design of circuit boards, microchips programming, and testing.

The course I took had three different stimulated sources of renewable energy, light, hydroelectric energy. This project did not require me to harvest the three of them, and I decided to design a robot that could harvest light and hydroelectric source. This final contest placed my team in the ninth position out of the 35 teams. This was another important experience since I was faced with a real world problem on harvesting renewable energy such as sunlight to power some of the basic needs. To this end, I leant that light could be converted to electrical energy to power electrical supplies (Sawin, 2012). In summary, I was inspired to learn more about renewable energy and electrical power. Based on the above researches/projects taken, experience and interest in Electrical Engineering, I am in the best position to develop cleaner and more cost efficient energy sources, finding new ways of generating electricity, and to develop renewable energy.