STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Engineers through time have consistently triumphed over near-impossible odds to achieve some of the
most incredible mechanical and structural feats; their pioneering ingenuity has played a central role in
the ever-changing face of technological advancement. My passion for Mechanical engineering stems
from an inquisitive side that has fuelled many of my interests, in particular Applied mechanics due to its
wide scope and real life application. The potential of Applied Mechanics to capture phenomena such as
deformation of biological materials, post-collision airbag deployment in car, rocket launches,
underground explosions, rotating machinery, and flutter in airplanes, have generated my interest in the
subject. Hence, my decision to pursue higher education in this field is obvious.

My interest in Mechanics made me choose Mechanical Engineering for my Bachelor studies at National
Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli, India. The entry to the course involved stiff competition
and I was among the top 0.5% of the total 4, 00,000 candidates who took the entrance examination. The
rich undergraduate curriculum at NIT Tiruchirappalli introduced me to a gamut of core subjects but I was
particularly drawn to areas like Engineering Mechanics, Theory of Machines, Fourier series and PDE’s,
Computational Methods with C++, Finite Element Methods, Design of Machine Elements, Fluid
Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass transfer, and Mechatronics. The impact of these subjects
was so deep that it sparked in me a desire to remain associated with them throughout my life and carry
out research.

To gain further experience in the subjects, I interned in the Research and Development (R & D) Division
of Ashok Leyland (India), a leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles. The focus area during my
internship was improving radiator efficiency of a mini-truck by air flow optimization through numerical
simulation using Fluent and Gambit software. In this project, I got the opportunity to explore the
influence of high frequency vibrations on fluid flow and heat transfer in a floating zone. This project
enabled me to learn the physical modeling of the system that was accomplished via finite element
modeling. .While carrying out my project at Ashok Leyland, I spent extra hours reading manuals,
technical journals and diagnosing and troubleshooting the problems related to the project. I am glad to
say the effort’s paid off in the end and I was awarded as the best research trainee in Ashok Leyland.

During my stay in NIT Tiruchirappalli, I grabbed the opportunity of maximum learning by working as a
part-time Student Assistant. As a student assistant, I used to spend my free time at Dynamics lab, thus
getting high quality research exposure in mechanics, dynamics, nonlinear dynamics and experimental
methods. I further gained knowledge and expertise in the subject by working with Associate Professor S.
S. Arulappan on the modeling and simulation of wind turbine Savonius rotors for the prediction of the
power ratio and torque. In this project, rotor's power factor and torque were simulated by using
different Reynolds numbers. The simulated results showed a capability for providing reasonable
predictions of the maximum power of rotors and maximizing the efficiency of Savonius turbines. During
this project I enjoyed developing my problem-solving ability and adapting my knowledge to new and
challenging situations. This project was the highlight of my academic career. Most importantly, it
strengthened my idea of pursuing my Master’s degree.

University of Wuppertal
jha.kumarniraj.niraj@gmail.com
A good academic track record and strong practical skills demonstrated through my projects and
internship, helped me to secure a position in the Engineering Research Design and Development Division
at Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the leading Automobile Manufacturer in South Asia. Here I am working in
the Suspension Design group looking after ride quality and handling performance of a vehicle. While
working in MSIL, I got the opportunity to work on numerous challenging projects. The first one was
related to improving the ride quality of the hatchbacks - Zen and A-Star. In this project, on the basis of
customer satisfaction surveys, my team pinpointed the exact improvement areas including suspension
and tyre modeling. I played an instrumental role in redesigning suspension components for more
comfort in terms of handling, ride quality and performance. My excellent performance bagged me
another important responsibility in the R&D team where I was required to work on the effects of road
roughness on riding comfort and vehicle dynamics. The appreciation of my work inspired me to write a
paper on “Optimization and objective evaluation of vibration on seat of four-degrees-of-freedom half
car model under different road inputs using Matlab/Simulink”. While working on this paper, I mastered
time-domain transfer path analysis for analyzing vibratory energy transfer for solving transient and
nonlinear response problems, and human body response to vibration. These projects not only helped
me to design the suspension components but also helped me to understand its effect on Noise,
Vibration and Harshness (NVH) of the vehicle.

In another project, I analyzed pre-recorded noise signals from customer end to deduce the root cause of
brake squeal noise. I was able to successfully develop the three-degrees-of-freedom brake system
model to perform its stability analysis. Moreover, while working on this project, I got firsthand
experience in the brake noise dynamometer lab. During this time I enjoyed developing my problem-
solving ability and adapting my knowledge to new and challenging situations. Through my experiences I
am already beginning to appreciate the diversity which Mechanical engineering offers, and I hope to
build on this by continuing with my Master’s degree.

As a result of such varied and challenging projects, my interest in research has grown manifold. The thrill
of being able to make a new discovery or improve an existing process which is the result of the applied
research one has carried out, is immense. I have been motivated by such experiences to pursue a career
in research. A good grounding in mathematics and my analytical, computational and experimental skills
will put me in good stead while pursuing Master’s program in Computational Mechanical Engineering.
On completion of the Master’s program, I look forward to continuing my education by enrolling in a PhD
program and dedicate rest of my life to research.

When it came to selection of country for my Master’s I was lucid about my choice “Germany”, since it
gave me a wide array of choices for courses and specialization. Germany is a country which highly
values education, research and science. Computational mechanics is a major subject of research in many
fields of science and engineering, design and manufacturing. Industries such as the automobile,
aerospace, nanotechnology and information technology rely on computational mechanics-based
capabilities to model and numerically simulate complex systems for the analysis, design, and
manufacturing of high-technology products is the best choice for my Master’s degree.

In conclusion, I would like to add that the essence of University education lies in the synergetic
relationship between the student and his department. I feel that Master’s program in Computational
Mechanical Engineering at University of Wuppertal will be the most logical extension of my academic

University of Wuppertal
jha.kumarniraj.niraj@gmail.com
pursuits and a major step towards achieving my objectives. I would be grateful to you if I’m accorded
the opportunity to pursue my Master’s studies with financial assistance at your esteemed University.

University of Wuppertal
jha.kumarniraj.niraj@gmail.com