Statement of Purpose

I, Manav Kumar , an undergraduate student at the Department of Chemi-

cal Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), want to pursue a MS
degree course in Chemical Engineering.I have a strong inclination towards the field of
Nanotechnology, and want to work on the industrial applications of this diverse field of
technology.
My interest in the science of Nanotechnology dates back to my school days when
I read a few articles about some of the speculated uses of this technology in diverse
fields ranging from improving life span of tennis balls to finding cure for many diseases
and ailments by development of customised molecules to making of devices operating at
very high speeds. Inspired by the scope of work that can be done in this field and the
social implications that it can have, I decided to opt for best resources available to me.
Having a strong inclination towards the subjects of csience and mathematics I decided
to pursue my undergraduate studies at the premier institutes of engineering in India,
Indian Institute of Technology.
After securing an All India Rank among top 0.5% out of the 0.2 million students
from across the country in an entrance exam that tests the analytical skills and depths of
the fundamentals of the basic sciences and mathematics, I joined Department of Chem-
ical Engineering at IITB for a B.Tech course.
I did my junior thesis on “Thermoanalytical methods for study of solid phase
reactions” under the guidance of Prof. A.K Suresh in the department of Chemical En-
gineering at IITB. I chose this topic as I wanted to know about the ways to analyse
the reactions taking place on solid surfaces, which is profusely observed in the study of
nanoparticels and surfaces chemistry. In my survey I learned about various methods of
termoanalysis like DTA, DSC, CRTA, Thermogravimetry and nonconventional methods
like soniometry, Thermomagnetometry and Emanation Thermal analysis. In the pursuit
of my work I realised the need for the development of datailed kinetics for the study of
reactions on solid surfaces.
Later, in my third year, I opted for a summer project under the guidance of Prof. K.
C. Khilar in the department of chemical engineering at IITB. This project was based on
the study of the phenomenon of the formation of naonparticles in water/oil mi-
croemulsions. The task at hand was to exhaustively collect data on the nanoparticles
formed by this method, analysed under a TEM and to propose a plausible mechanism
for the formation of the particles and to elucidate the factors that can influence the final
size of the nanoparticles. The work involved a detailed study of surface phenomenon
and particel-particle interaction energies. An elective course on colloids and interfacial
engineering also helped me to strengthen my knowledge of the topic.
Motivated by the desire to work on industrial applications I decided to gain some
insight into designing of a reactor to get acquainted with the intricacies of the designing
process. So, as My final year B.Tech Project, I opted to design a chemical reactor for
the manufacture of Aniline from Nitrobenzene with a capacity of 45000 TPA. The work
involved searching for alternate routes possible for the conversion, other than the ones
commercially in use, and propose a sensible flowsheet for the prospective plant along
with designing the necessary separation system.
I have done a number of course projects on varied topics like Analysis of water-
ethanol mixture for flash calculations and determination of dew temperature
by using various methods like UNIQUAC, Margules Equation etc. on MATLAB plat-
form; Simulation a non-isothermal packed bed reactor with radial disper-
sion using finite difference method and orthogonal collocation on the SCILAB platform.
These projects have given me insight into usage of these software tools and better un-
derstanding of the subjects.
During my academic pursuit at the institute I delved into the fundamentals of basic
sciences which helped me further improve my analytical skills pertaing to applications
relating not only to my major, Chemical Engineering, but also on varied subjects of
basic sciences and Humanities subjects like Psychology, Philosophy and Economics. An
exposure to subjects of such diversity has helped me in gaining good command on vari-
ous subjects of utmost importance to a chemical engineer and necessary to develop the
capability to become a successful enterpreneur.
Alongside my academic commitments I have also been pursuing various extracurric-
ular activities wherein I have recieved recognition both at the hostel and at the institute
level. I have also been involved in organising a concert for raising funds for the tsunami
victims of the 2004 Tsunami catastrophe. Inspired by my inclination to music I, as one
of the member of a three member team, stood out as one of the top 10 teams out of the
350 teams who presented their business ideas at the annual business fest, Ideaz-2005,
of IIT Bombay. In the long run I want to be an enterpreneur and make an impact on
the lives of people around me. For realising my dream I want to get a Masters Degree
from a renowned university like yours and gain more depth in various subjects related to
chemical engineering. The motivation to join blah blah is that I would be able to inter-
act with the renowned and skilled faculty at the institute and with students of diverse
cultures which will help me in becoming a good enterpreneur.
I hope the graduate admission committee, based on my motivation and qualifica-
tions, considers me eligible for the MS program at the Cornell University. I eagerly look
forward to be a part of the intellectual community of the university and participate in
the reasearch activities going on.