Please review my statement of purpose

“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose” – Z. N. Hurston

Indeed this curiosity motivates me to shift my career from a field engineer to an academic. Two years ago I was working as consulting engineer in Australia doing soil tests and building residential houses. But I was realizing that I desire something else. So when I got a call to join at a university from my home country as a lecturer, I immediately grabbed the opportunity. That was not an easy decision to make as I was doing quite well in my consulting job but something tells me that, pursuing an academic career will help to achieve my long-term career goal of becoming a researcher in the engineering field.

My research interested grew while I was doing my masters at Newcastle University (UK). I did my masters in Geotechnical Engineering. I obtained in-depth knowledge of key geotechnical subject areas and did research work on slope stability, ground vibration and mass soil movements. My master’s thesis was based on finite element modelling of the effect of ground vibration on railway embankment induced by a high-speed rail. The thesis study involved PLAXIS finite element modelling of railway embankment to analyse the soil stability due to ground vibration under high-speed dynamic load. This research gives me the chance to apply modern computational techniques to study and understand soil behaviour in critical condition.

After completing my masters I worked as consultant geotechnical engineer for the Dhaka metro rail project in Bangladesh. The metro rail project was first of its kind and one of the largest infrastructure projects in Bangladesh at that time. I was a part of a multinational consulting team which was responsible for the geotechnical site investigations, ground improvements works, foundation design and construction project planning. This job plays a significant role to further develop my research interest. As the project was huge and unique in Dhaka city, we faced so many hurdles completing the geotechnical investigations and design. I had to do a lot of research to find out the best solution for the ground improvement technique for the railway depot. I suggested using sand compaction pile to improve the depot land area as it will be much more efficient in terms of cost and time considering the ground condition and fortunately it was later accepted instead of the previous choice of using vertical drain. This helps me to get promoted to a deputy team leader within six months of working as a junior engineer and this recognition was one of the best achievement of my career. Besides this, while preparing geotechnical investigation report I got to know that, in Bangladesh being a developing country have less documented data of any kind that related to its geological formation, soil condition, underground utility or even underground sewage lines. As a result, our geotechnical working group had to do a lot of research to find out the accurate information to prepare reports, design and construction plan. This extra works caused extra time, money and efforts which eventually delays the whole projects and creates lots of bureaucratic problems. This made me realize that people are often neglecting prior research before starting a project and increase risks and costs more as the project move forwards which inspired me to devote myself into research before starting any projects even when I had to design a simple single storey building or a foundation design for an industrial warehouse.

Currently, I am working as a lecturer of Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at North South University, Bangladesh. At North South University, I taught introduction to soil mechanics, advanced foundation engineering, engineering materials and engineering drawing modules to students. I am also doing research on soil characterisation of Dhaka city and mixing of waste sludge into clay materials for recycling purposes. I am teaching for about 16 months and realized that this job gives me the opportunity to flourish my research interest but on the other hand, I realized how deep the potential to improve my research skills is. During my academic and professional experience, I well understood the significance of commitment and how to be an effective member of the team and how to work independently.

I would like to be selected for the research project “Improved decision making for sustainable and cost-effective underground construction” because, from the project description, I found that the project deals with understanding geological risks priors to start underground construction by developing a probabilistic decision-making tool. This project aligned with my research interest which is mitigating geotechnical risk by doing research prior constructions. Additionally, the possibility to take part in interdisciplinary research, the opportunities for training and the idea of continuously developing new skills and gaining experience are also a big motivation to apply for this position.

The career advancement opportunities that I will have after completing my PhD studies are something I see as an important asset to my career. Being a keen learner and a science enthusiast, I believe working in a challenging and interesting research project like this will surely improve my potential and help me to become a successful researcher in my future career.

I do believe my diverse and dynamic professional and academic background has endowed me with a strong platform to perform research activity independently and make a positive contribution as a PhD student at X Institute of Technology.