My letter has finally arrived...
Ok, so almost anyone who is likely to read this post is probably already aware of most of this but here it goes.
First off the girlfriend referred to in my last major post (circa 2004) and I broke up a long time ago. Things actually starting going bad during the cruise I mentioned.
Since then I have gone back to school and have received a second bachelor's degree, this time a BS in Applied Computational Mathematics. Currently I am working toward my Masters in Applied Math. This brings me to my big news.
I just got accepted to the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department of University of Florida to get my PhD. I was also offered a full fellowship for four years that will pay my tuition and give me a $22,500 stipend to live on. So I'm moving to Gainesville Florida sometime in mid to late July!!!
The best part requires some explaining on why I decided to go back to school in the first place. Around 2001 I learned about a new way of generating solar and wind energy called a solar chimney. (http://www.enviromission.com.au/) I became fascinated with the technology but started wondering if it could be improved. I started thinking about the shape of this greenhouse roof. If you studied how the air was flowing underneath could you find the optimal shape of the roof to maximize the amount of electricity the plant generates? And then I realized, 'Crap. I think I want to be an applied mathematician.’ So that’s why I went back to school.
Last year I e-mailed a professor at UF who wrote some papers on the solar chimney to ask him some questions. He was very helpful and encouraged me to apply to the PhD program there. He didn’t have funding for this project and wasn’t looking for grad students but it turns out the chair of the department is really excited to have an American student with the math background and interest to study computational fluid dynamics, so he is going to fund me and the two professors will co-advise me. So not only do I get a full ride but I get to work on the project that made me decide to go back to school in the first place.
First off the girlfriend referred to in my last major post (circa 2004) and I broke up a long time ago. Things actually starting going bad during the cruise I mentioned.
Since then I have gone back to school and have received a second bachelor's degree, this time a BS in Applied Computational Mathematics. Currently I am working toward my Masters in Applied Math. This brings me to my big news.
I just got accepted to the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department of University of Florida to get my PhD. I was also offered a full fellowship for four years that will pay my tuition and give me a $22,500 stipend to live on. So I'm moving to Gainesville Florida sometime in mid to late July!!!
The best part requires some explaining on why I decided to go back to school in the first place. Around 2001 I learned about a new way of generating solar and wind energy called a solar chimney. (http://www.enviromission.com.au/) I became fascinated with the technology but started wondering if it could be improved. I started thinking about the shape of this greenhouse roof. If you studied how the air was flowing underneath could you find the optimal shape of the roof to maximize the amount of electricity the plant generates? And then I realized, 'Crap. I think I want to be an applied mathematician.’ So that’s why I went back to school.
Last year I e-mailed a professor at UF who wrote some papers on the solar chimney to ask him some questions. He was very helpful and encouraged me to apply to the PhD program there. He didn’t have funding for this project and wasn’t looking for grad students but it turns out the chair of the department is really excited to have an American student with the math background and interest to study computational fluid dynamics, so he is going to fund me and the two professors will co-advise me. So not only do I get a full ride but I get to work on the project that made me decide to go back to school in the first place.