STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

I am currently completing my B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the countrys top University, the
University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore, Paistan. I !ish to pursue research lea"ing to the
#asters "egree from the prestigious E$E "epartment at the University of British $olum%ia. . #y specific
areas of interest inclu"e &istri%ute" an" Parallel $omputing, $omputer 'et!ors, (lgorithm &esign,
$omputer )ision, Systems an" #achine Intelligence, *perating System &esign, +eal Time $omputing
an" Em%e""e" Systems.
(fter maintaining top positions, for all the ten years of my school life, I secure" overall first position in
Secon"ary School E,aminations in -../ among more than -01,111 stu"ents from all over the country an"
again in -..2 among 20,111 stu"ents, in 3igher Secon"ary School E,aminations. I !on the 'ational
Talent Scholarship from -../ to -..2 an" the countrys top Scholarship 4'ishan5e53ai"er6 for five
successive years since then. In -../ I !as given the 4Talente" Stu"ent of the year6 a!ar" %y Pun7a%
8roup of $olleges. 9inally my achievements !ere recogni:e" at the 'ational Level an" the Presi"ent of
Paistan conferre" upon me the countrys 'ational (!ar" 4#e"al of E,cellence6. I have !on / other
gol" me"als an" several a!ar"s an" I am also the !inner of ; 'ational level <ui: competitions.
I "evelope" a strong inclination to!ar"s computing at the high school level so I entere" un"ergra"uate
school in -..= !here electrical engineering !as my o%vious selection. The courses at un"ergra"uate
school further intensifie" my interest in computing. The stu"y of algorithms an" computational theory,
gave a "efinite "irection to my thoughts. (s I entere" the Thir" >ear class, my :eal an" interest for
computing has gro!n to full %lossom. 3ar"!are enrichment for me came through a pro7ect that involve"
the "esign an" implementation of a high spee" IS( "evice. #achine vision soon follo!e" an" my first
taste of machine learning came. I !as enthralle" !ith the i"ea of intelligent an" a"aptive systems.
#achine learning algorithms rapi"ly %egan to interest me. I pursue" small e,periments in pattern
e,traction, evolutionary computing an" genetic algorithms. I imme"iately ne! that my passions lay
here.
#y appointment as the 'et!or a"ministrator in the &igital $omputers La% provi"e" me a !on"erful
opportunity to pursue e,perimentation !ith computer net!ors. This intro"uce" me to the e,citing ne!
fiel" of "istri%ute" computing. The !or "one at computer la% prove" very fruitful, as I !as a%le to verify
the concepts "evelope" %y theoretical stu"y of "istri%ute" systems !ith my han"s on e,perience. . It !as
"uring this !or that I ha" the first e,posure to net!or simulators. #y pro%lems !ith net!or
management an" trou%leshooting ha" given me an i"ea of the comple,ity involve" in parameter
interaction !ithin "istri%ute" systems. I !as a%le to imme"iately appreciate an" interest myself in
mathematical mo"eling of such comple, interactions, !hich eventually forms the %ac%one of simulators.
(t the La%., occasional unatten"e" server faults !ere a ma7or pro%lem. In an attempt to mae the net!or
fault tolerant, me an" my co5!orers implemente" an election algorithm for "ynamic server re5allocation
among a server cluster, The La% can no! run unmanage" for most times.
#y eenness to!ar"s research in intelligent net!ors le" me to tae final year research pro7ect on
4Impromptu, intelligent, "istri%ute" computing !ith ?I'I an" ?()(Spaces6. This pro7ect not only
polishe" my concepts of net!or an" em%e""e" computing %ut also gave me a great "eal of practical
un"erstan"ing of ?()( 'et!or programming, ?()( Beans, +#I, ?&B$, ?()(Spaces an" the
contemporary technologies lie $*+B(. (t the time I starte" !oring, it !as a ne! fiel"@ so it provi"e"
me !ith an opportunity to get my name !ritten among the architects of this revolutionary technology.
To"ay, I can prou"ly state that I am among the first ones in the !orl" !ho "evelop successful ?I'I
applications on LI'UA. ( research paper 4Experimenting with JINI on Linux6 co5authore" %y me also
has %een pu%lishe" in the ?anuary 011- issue of Embedded Linux Journal. Later I successfully mae a
!ireless intelligent +*B*T the part of my ?I'I fe"eration that enhance" my no!le"ge of ro%otic
systems, artificial intelligence an" em%e""e" computing.
I am currently also !oring as a computer consultant for a Silicon )alley %ase" company. This !or
involves +eal Time Em%e""e" Systems, Linu, &evice &rivers, Bernel #o"ule Programming an" +eal
Time *perating Systems Clie +tLinu,, ),Dors, os. etc.E. It has also given me the opportunity to !or
on the latest net!or processors an" e,periment !ith parallel an" "istri%ute" computing algorithms.
I have years of e,perience in !oring !ith Uni, an" Linu,. I possess mature programming sills in
numerous languages inclu"ing $FF, ?ava an" Perl, an" I have ha" !oring e,perience !ith ?&B$,
+tLinu,, Prolog an" TclGT. *ver the years, out of personal interest, I have stu"ie" $omputer 'et!ors,
$omputational Theory, (lgorithm &esign, Parallel an" &istri%ute" Processing, *perating Systems an"
Signal Processing. I have con"ucte" occasional !orshops an" "elivere" many a num%er of lectures on
?ava, Linu,, +eal Time $omputing an" &istri%ute" Systems.
The research !or I have "one as an un"ergra"uate has motivate" me to continue !ith the research on
similar su%7ects at the gra"uate level. Throughout my un"ergra"uate recor" I have consistently %een
rane" amongst the top -H not only in my o!n "epartment %ut in the entire university. I !as a!ar"e"
merit5%ase" scholarships for all un"ergra"uate annual e,ams that I have taen yet. #y no!le"ge,
e,perience, "e"ication an" aca"emic recor"s are ample proof of my soli" un"erstan"ing an" my
commitment to continue research an" stu"ies. (lso, my no!le"ge ranging from electrical engineering to
computer science maes me a highly "eserving can"i"ate for the gra"uate school at University of British
$olum%ia.
I plan to pursue a "octoral program imme"iately follo!ing my masters course. I fin" that teaching is the
!or %est suite" to my temperament, an" in the long run I !oul" lie to see myself esta%lishe" at a
researchGteaching position in an aca"emic institute of reputa%le research raning.
I have chosen University of British $olum%ia %ecause I thin that it has very !ell verse" faculty in the
area of my interest. Stu"y at University of British $olum%ia !ill offer me potential for gro!th an"
"evelopment that !oul" not %e possi%le else!here. The research %eing carrie" out %y &r. B. 3ami":a"eh,
&r. #. +. Ito., &r. 3. (lnu!eri, &r. +.D. +onal"son, &r. ). $. #. Leung, an" &r. T. #en:ies at the
University of British $olum%ia can satisfy my thirst for parallel an" "istri%ute" computing, computer
net!ors an" real time em%e""e" computing.
UMAR FAROOQ