Fascinated by computers at an early age, I chose computer science as my major stream in high

school. I developed a passion for programming and discovered in me an innate adeptness at

writing programs. This coupled with a natural aptitude for mathematics and good academic
credentials, which included securing highest marks in the state in computer science, helped me
enroll into the Computer Science and Engineering department at the Government College of
Technology, Coimbatore, one of the premier institutes under Anna University.

Data structures and algorithms were among my favourite courses during my undergraduate
study since algorithms involved using mathematical analysis to show very interesting results.
My first efforts at implementing the algorithm principles I was introduced to in class, involved
using the Edit-Distance algorithm to perform automatic error-correction. Emphasis on
efficiency as the most important characteristic of algorithms and the impact of efficient
algorithms on several other areas in computer science, fuelled my interest in the field. This
further motivated me to participate in several coding contests with the intention of putting my
programming skills to test. Most notably, I along with a friend designed a maze solver based on
backtracking techniques to solve the problem efficiently. This project secured prizes in various
inter-college technical symposiums.

In pursuit of a research topic for my senior year project, I came across several interesting
publications that bolstered my interest to gain in-depth knowledge in different areas of
computer science. Inspired by one of the research papers, I came up with an idea for my senior
year project which was eventually titled Implementation of Binding mechanism in web browser
for preventing Cross Site Scripting (XSS) attacks. The goal was to modify a browser to request the
web-application for the valid HTML structure of the web-page, through bind headers. I designed
a module to construct a Document Object Model (DOM) which negated any attempt to gain
unauthorized access to user data, especially through insertion of scripts, by submitting an
invalid page structure and informing the application about an attack. A working model of the
project was chosen to be placed in the college library by the head of the department. The quality
of information I came across while reviewing related literature during the course of this project,
made me realize the significance of taking up graduate level courses in understanding advanced
concepts. However, the plethora of options available to me from a field as diverse as computer
sciences, convinced me to further evaluate my options before applying for graduate studies.

Being a member of the Rotaract club in Coimbatore, I was an active participant at various social
welfare programs hosted by the club inspite of a testing schedule at school. I captained my
college in zonal level badminton championships leading my team to the finals for two
consecutive years. I was also elected the student placement coordinator for the Computer
Science department. Nevertheless, my attention in class and the practical knowledge I gained
from the laboratory sessions as well as the projects I completed, helped me graduate with
distinction.

Confident that industrial exposure would help me decide on specific areas to focus on during
graduate school, I took up a full time position at ADP India, a subsidiary of the software firm
Automatic Data Processing Inc., headquartered at Roseland, New Jersey, USA. While working on
my first assignment for a time and labor management application, ezLaborManager (ezLM), I
came up with a proof of concept for creating a custom culture and enhancing the application to
support Spanish. My efforts were praised and I was subsequently asked to focus on the
integration of ezLM with another product. During the development of a server-side application
to handle the requests across the two products, I improved my techniques at multithreaded
programming and gained working experience on databases. More recently, I took up the
responsibility of developing drivers for hardware devices, called time clocks, that record
employee time punches and implemented web services to facilitate interaction with ezLM.
Through my contribution I gained hands-on experience in multiple application frameworks,
useful Microsoft technologies and web services. My diligence and hard work got me inducted
into the organization’s Hall of Fame for best performers of the year 2013.

The nature of work at the organization and the focus of my academic projects have helped me
narrow down my areas of interest to computer networks, security and algorithms. I want to use
my education at graduate school as a gateway to garner skills in handling more advanced
concepts in these areas and to research on newer technologies. During the course of my
graduate program, I intend to further streamline my goals based on the research and
independent study opportunities available to me. Considering the breadth of ongoing research
activities as well as the diverse faculty at the <University>, I am confident that I will have little
trouble finding a suitable research program.

My objective for seeking graduate studies in the Department of Computer Science, <University>
is to broaden my scientific horizons and prepare myself in the best possible way for a bright
career in research. I firmly believe that <University>, with its multicultural environment, world-
class faculty and abundant resources, will enable me to successfully pursue a Masters degree. I
am certain that I will be able to make a worthwhile contribution in my field of choice through
the graduate program at this prestigious university.