My goals

I, Gorantla Balaji, applying to Indian Institute of Technology, Khanpur for admission to the MS program
in Aerospace. My goal is to pursue a career in research, either in industry or in academia. Ten years from
now, I envisage myself as a full-fledged research professional in an organisation and then want to start my
own company. MS is an important first step in achieving this objective.

My background
Though I was not exposed to any aspects of Aerospace in my school as I did all my schooling in rural area,
where there were no opportunities to know about new things and to learn about them. A basic foundation
in the fields of aerospace began after I entered to Under-graduation program at B M S College of
Engineering, Bangalore. Though we did not have Aerospace Department in our college, we got a chance to
learn the basics of aero models and then started designing, analysing, fabricating and testing the small
UAVs with the help of Aero lab under the R & D labs in our college.

My academic and co-curricular record has been consistently good. Throughout school as well as now, I
have been at or near the top of my class. We as a team of four has won the “e-Yantra National level robotic
competition” conducted by IIT, Bombay twice for the academic year 2015-16 on the theme of “Gas leakage
detection” and in 2016-17 on the theme of “Balance Bot”. Achieved 12th rank at the “SAE international
aero competition, USA” in the year 2015-16 and 15th rank in 2016-
17.
I am of the opinion that research requires a firm grounding in theory backed up by an in-depth knowledge
of systems and implementation. The important courses of Mathematics and Control Systems have given
me a good knowledge of theory. In addition, participating in Aero Competitions further firm up my
foundations. My learning and performance in aero lab attests to my knowledge of aircraft.

My strengths are my consistency, capacity for hard work, and my ability to work in a team. I have been
involved in many course projects which involved a group of students, and I have been the team leader in
quite a few of these. I believe that research involves new ideas, as well as consistent effort to back them up,
both of which I am capable of.

My primary interests
I prefer research problems to be an ideal mix of theory and practice. The field of Aerospace interests me
because of the scope for breaking new ground, as well as the vast applications possible. I believe that
Dynamics, Flight Mechanics and Control, in particular, is an area with a lot of potential. I want to have a
solid grounding in this field, which will reflect in obtaining the best carrier. I worked on the projects related
to aerospace such as - “Design and Development of Mono-ducted Aerial vehicle”, which was my BE project
and Worked on “Autonomous Navigation in indoor using AR drone 2.0” , under e-Yantra summer
internship at IIT, Bombay.

Why IIT, KHANPUR?

Since all fields in Aerospace are highly interlinked, I want to pursue graduate studies in an institute that is
strong in all fields of Aerospace. I am aware that the department of Aerospace at IIT, Khanpur is one of the
best departments comparatively with all the IITs, being particularly strong in research and project works
going on. These facts have led me to apply to IIT, Khanpur.

There is one more and the most compelling reason. I have worked on a “Autonomous Navigational in
indoor using AR drone 2.0” as an intern in IIT, Bombay and I have come across related work by Professor
Laxmidhar Behera and team on the research project “Design and Development of Visually Guided
Autonomous Quadrotors”, their work has interested me immensely, and I would like to participate in
such projects that the institute is undertaking. Subsequently I corresponded with project details and
description of the work which reinforced my decision to apply.

My plans if admitted
I will carry advanced studies on Controls, Mechanics and Aerodynamics, as well as related fields which
supports my research, by expanding my learnings through course works and through the research works
and also participating in the ongoing projects. This will give opportunity to contribute my understandings
about the fields which I am interested in. I know that IIT, Khanpur gives it’s best to produce inventors for
the Nation and it’s my responsibility to reach those expectations and my track records will give confidence
to achieve my goals. I believe that my association with Aerospace department of IIT, Khanpur will be
mutually profitable one.