Personal Statement

Shiraz Kamran Siddiqi

Each of us has a unique perspective shaped by our experiences. Mine has been molded by travelling
through one of the world’s most geographically diverse regions, training as an electrical engineer, creating
art through the lens of a camera, struggling as a social worker with an initiative to bring light to the hopeless
and my ups and downs as the son of a cancer fighter. My perspective, my view of the world around me,
helps me understand and identify people’s hopes, fears, joys and sorrows unaffected by the amount of ma-
terial or emotional wealth possessed by them.

Like many before me, I hold a passion for social causes. My perceptiveness however, allows me to see un-
derlying causes and effects that others can’t and my technical background supports me with developing
solutions that are applicable, relevant and sustainable. The more technologically advanced parts of the
world often have solutions to many problems. However, implementing technological solutions is much more
than designing or inventing devices, algorithms, machines or circuits. There are many economic, societal
and cultural contexts, distinct to every region which must be considered. These contexts must be under-
stood, and the implementation tailored around them. The success of a solution or invention in one environ-
ment doesn’t necessarily guarantee the same outcome in another. An area I feel I can contribute to signifi-
cantly in this world, is a deeper understanding of the grey space between the inventions we develop as en-
gineers and the users we intend to facilitate.

The aim to create real impact during my undergraduate degree pushed me to work on a Final Year Design
Project that could positively change lives. I developed a low-cost, portable device, for monitoring and diag-
nosing sleep apnea, which was designed with input from local doctors. These were the specialists who of-
ten came across such cases, but did not have access to full-fledged sleep labs. In addition to being tailor-
made to the user’s skills and resources, its portability made it practical especially in the country’s notorious
power outages.
After graduation, I had the privilege to be part of an award winning research project called TAME (Tremor
Acquisition & Minimization), that enabled patients with essential tremors by giving them the ability to carry
out daily tasks by suppressing tremors using electrical stimulation. Supporting the team as it won first posi-
tion at the Stanford Centre on Longevity Design in California and interacting with other teams from MIT,
Stanford, Berkley was a learning opportunity that helped shape my perspective further. Representation at
such an international platform earned the team, including myself, with the Rector’s Gold medal.

Besides using technology as a medium to solve social problems, I have co-founded Mashal, an initiative to
create positive impact in the lives of people around us. At Mashal we reach out to people through various
projects. There is a procedure to rank projects and estimate magnitude and area of impact. We fulfil the
immediate needs of the underprivileged as well as empower them to fulfil them on their own in the long run.
The former is usually achieved by providing items of need such as food, warm clothing etc whereas the lat-
ter is achieved by imparting the skills and tools necessary for a particular livelihood. Besides offering mater-
ial help, it is also beneficial in the larger picture to create healthy mindsets in a community.
As an undergraduate student, my favourite co-curricular activity was as Project Ambassador of the One
World Youth Project where I conducted interactive sessions with school students to create awareness about
topics such as culture, expression, perspective and discrimination.
Post-graduation I have been a member of the Rotaract Club of Islamabad Metropolitan. In cooperation with
Rotary Club we organised events such as a polio rally, interaction with senior citizens at old age homes,
clean up drives at hiking trails, dental camps in welfare schools, tree plantation and blood donation drives.

I am applying for the MS in Electrical Engineering/Engineering Management program to diversify my skill set
and find gainful employment in an organization that values my passion for society, user interface, consumer
behaviour and cultural contexts. My experiences as an avid traveller of Pakistan and the US and engineer-
ing background can prove to be an asset in that endeavour. My long term goal is to advise and steer orga-
nizations like the UN with their aim to use information and communication technology for development. I
also hope to set up an organization dedicated to serving this purpose in the third world.

To achieve these goals, I believe my technical knowledge has to be complimented by world class manage-
ment skills that I can gain from the MS in Electrical Engineering/Engineering Management dual degree pro-
gram at the University of Southern California. I look forward to being involved with Incubate USC, specially
with the D-Health Lab and contributing with my technical skills and unique perspective while learning the
business side of health related tech startups. Exposure to the diverse student body and faculty of USC will
also develop my communication and people skills and help me grow as a leader.