When I was a fifth-grader, I received a rare invitation from my brother to visit the

electrical engineering labs in the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Before the visit, I had

been profoundly interested in physics and carried out many physics experiments on

my own in the school laboratory. During my short stay at the Academy, alongside

with the finest students in the country, I experimented the conductivity of YBCO

(yttrium barium copper oxide) stripe under super high voltage conditions, which

means that if this super-conductor material can be applied into reality, there will be a

lower consumption for electricity worldwide. I had never done that before and it was

so mesmerizing. Not only did the apparatus impress me but the operating skills

introduced a new interest in research. The experiment was performed under 77K so

that the liquid nitrogen was used to maintain the temperature. The most important

aspect was to use the twisted pair to lower the interference of external electromagnetic

wave. Though I was not permitted to charge the capacitance due to the high risk, the

attention to detail at the academy still magnetised me. This experience made me

realize that I would like to pursue a career in the more practical research aspect of

engineering. With the strong foundational skills and interest in problem solving and

analysis, I believe studying engineering at university is a natural academic

progression for me.

Perhaps the most enjoyable engineering experience was programming a robot in

middle school. Using the LEGO Mind-storm robots, I was able to design the robot to

recognise colours which would then affect subsequent actions or movements. It gave
me an appreciation of utilising all the sensors available and continuously fixing bugs

in the program to make it more efficient.

Beyond the required readings, I also devoted nearly all my time to extensive readings

in the field of engineering. Mainly, “Practical Electrical Engineering” by Sergey N.

Makarov told me about something which influenced my ideas about electrical

engineering. I read it cover to cover and studied both the conventional and creative

solutions for many of the practical problems in our life. Having finished the book, I

attempted to apply my knowledge to fix my lap, using a tungsten filament inside and

repairing the outside thin copper wires with insulating tape. This was successful for a

short while until it malfunctioned again. Experiences like this have heightened my

passion to study engineering so I apply my knowledge successfully.

Studying physics at A-level, it allowed me to see the world from both macro and

microscopic perspectives. For example, all the surrounding things can be analysed at

both quantum and visible level. I learned how to operate with the laws of physics and

enjoyed the challenge of linking the theory to practical application. In addition, to

advance my mathematics, I attended the Euclid mathematics Olympics held by

University of Waterloo and received the Gold prize (top 25% around the world),

transferable to engineering.
Outside my academic life, I have been a proactive member in the community by

assisting children in the local charity with their English. The main challenge was that

the children were introverted and I overcame this by searching for interesting and

attractive stories on the website and practicing my pronunciation and grammar usage.

I found this very rewarding and allowed me to further my communication skills with

new people I meet.

It is universally known that there is often a huge gap between theory and practice and

the gap will be particularly difficult to be dealt with in engineering. For instance, the

resistance of the wire and its energy loss are ignored in textbooks when analysing

complex circuits. However, in fact, in the experimental operation, a small resistance

value may cause the experimental data to differ greatly from the expected value,

which will undoubtedly lead to higher experimental cost and even completely wrong

experimental conclusions. Therefore, in the process of learning circuit knowledge, I

focused on the basic experimental operation, such as the application of capacitance,

which makes me more proficient and cautious in more advanced research in the

future.

In summary, these experiences provided the chance to cultivate my skills relating to

engineering which has inspired my enthusiasm to be successful and accomplished in

this subject. I hope by studying further at the university I will be competent to

improve the world by creating more efficient and energy-saving technologies.