How To Write A SOP

Goal Statement of
AVIJIT SAHA (EE PhD Applicant for Fall 2011)
I am applying for admission into the PhD program in electrical engineering in Virginia Tech,
because my ebullient yet focused interest to pursue graduate research in microelectronics and
nanoelectronics, especially nanoscale devices and circuits, perfectly match with the intensive
research done in Virginia Tech in this area, with cutting-edge research labs and outstanding
faculty members specialized in this arena.
My academic career so far has always been a driving force for me, in the sense that each time I
achieved an academic excellence I was motivated to go for another. I was a gold-medalist in high
school for obtaining a round 5.0/5.0 GPA in Secondary and Higher-Secondary Exams. My knack
in mathematics and physics and interest in electronics inspired me to choose electrical and
electronic engineering as my undergraduate major. I tried for admission in BUET, the top-most
ranked engineering university in Bangladesh, and was ranked 3rd in the admission test of BUET.
In my undergraduate career, I achieved excellence in each of my three avenues: academic
performance, research involvement and leadership activities. I was ranked 6th in my class of 138
students with a CGPA of 3.89/4.0. My undergraduate life was full of a good number of team and
individual projects as parts of lab or theory courses. My involvements in the team projects were
either as the team leader, the team coordinator or the lead worker. These roles helped me to learn
how to lead teams, working from the front and motivating others to reach their goals.
My first serious research involvement was through my undergraduate thesis, in which, me and
my group under the supervision of Dr. A.B.M. Harun-ur Rashid, investigated different methods
of fault detection and localization in analog ICs, comparing their efficacies. We devised a novel
method of fault identification in analog ICs utilizing the combined effect of gain and phase
versus frequency responses of analog circuits. The work was published in IEEE TENCON 2009
conference. It also earned our group the 2nd prize in electronics in BUET EEE Undergraduate
Project Workshop 2009. The research inspired me to delve deeper into the study of solid-state
devices and circuits, as design of low-power, high-speed and highly efficient electronic circuits
essentially depends on the technology of the constituent devices used. I came to know about the
device modeling and scaling issues and emerging devices, and the need of novel technologies to
overcome the scaling limitations.
To continue my study and research in these areas, I immediately got enrolled in the M.Sc.
program in BUET. After passing two semesters in this program, I have completed the required
coursework with a CGPA of 3.92/4.0, which, I am expecting, will get me a rank of 2 in my class
when I finish the program. The courses like 'MOS Devices', 'Semiconductor Characterization
Theory', 'Advanced VLSI Design' and 'Carbon Nanotechnology' helped me to prepare the
academic background needed to continue research in microelectronics and nanoelectronics. I am

currently working on modeling and simulation of different innovative FET devices. Physics,
characterization, modeling and simulation of TFETs, CNTFETs, MESFETs, FinFETs, IGBTs
interest me. The novel approaches of experimenting with different materials in devices and the
associated quantum phenomenon seem to be filled with endless scope for research. Besides, the
application of these devices in analog and digital VLSI for production of more robust circuits
should be very interesting to see. Researches done in the MicrON group in these areas interest
me. Prof. Marius Orlowskis researches in microelectronics, Prof. Guidos work on materials or
Prof. Hudaits works on bandgap engineering inspire me. Also, Prof. Has works on analog
circuit design and Prof. Ramans works on RF/Analog IC design interest me to work in their
groups.
Besides my academic research, I have also conducted research in modeling and simulation tools
in MATLAB, CMOS Terahertz Oscillator Circuits and Voltage Converters, publishing a total of
2 Journal Papers and 5 Conference papers. These interdisciplinary studies should also aid me in
my graduate research.
Today, being a lecturer in Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, when I teach the
basics of electronics to my sophomore students and watch them get deeply interested in the
subject, I feel I have an innate ability to convey basic concepts and motivate students to explore
and research. So, I have decided to pursue my professional career as a professor in
nanoelectronics and take a leadership role in research and innovation in this field. I believe that
graduate study at Virginia Tech will undoubtedly give me the opportunity towards this academic
and professional goal of mine.

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Goal Statement of

AVIJIT SAHA (EE PhD Applicant for Fall 2011)

academic background needed to continue research in microelectronics and nanoelectronics. I am

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