Grad School Statement of Purpose (UBC ECE M.Eng.)

Luo, Sichen (Roger) - B.A.Sc. - Electrical Engineering ‘18

Learning from the best, taking on new challenges, and making contributions to humanity have always been my motivation in my professional career. The Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) of ECE at UBC is exactly the right program to allow me to continue realizing these values in my journey of becoming a unique and well-rounded person.

I have been enjoying making connections with what I love and what I have learned. Driven by my passions in automobiles, I proposed our ELEC 391 Team to build a Shift-by-Wire haptic interface that can render gear-shifting positions using linear actuators. As a control system design lead, I looked up more than 10 research papers from experts in haptics, robotics, and car manufacturers to understand the system architecture and force profiles required to produce nearly realistic feelings of switching gears. Then, I worked closely with the motor designers to develop actuators and power electronics components that can accurately detect gearshift knob positions and respond with right stiffness. After modeling the system on Simulink, I created an Arduino Library to implement the control specifications and designed a GUI to give users a live view of gear position and motor status. Logging and comparing the force-position and force-time data of our device with the profile from a real gearshift, we found our robot effectively rendered a gear-engagement “click” and a stop impact. This team project was considered outstanding with a grade 95 (A+) and was demonstrated in the design celebration. In cars with automatic transmissions, deploying Shift-by-Wire system eliminates the mechanical linkage between the gear shifter and the gearbox, effectively reducing weight while maintaining the joy and flexibility of switching gears in manual mode. The outcome of this meaningful experience motivates me to deepen my understandings of robotic controls and modern Human-Computer-Interactions with the best expertise through relevant graduate courses such as EECE 571R and EECE 518.

My passion for cars doesn't stop there. Having participated in the Canada-Japan Co-op Program, I was offered an opportunity to work at Autoliv Electronics Japan for 12 months on Active Safety product development. During my work terms, I worked on sensor and algorithm validations for Advanced Driving Assistant Systems including Blind Spot Detection, Lane Changing Assists, Cross Traffic Alerts, Adaptive Cruise Control, and Automated Emergency Breaking. I have also developed a wireless sensor diagnostic tool to improve the efficiency of data collection and system debugging. This experience gave me a deeper insight into the automotive industry and motivated me to take advantage of advanced computing technologies in the Artificial Intelligence era to solve more complex problems to achieve a higher standard of safety in autonomous driving. Having taken Computer Architecture course in myfourth year, I found it super interesting as it gives me a window into how a processor works at many different levels. It also inspired me to think deeper about the tradeoffs and optimizations need to be made when we design not only chips but any complex systems. This term, I am taking an initiative to enroll in a graduate course – EECE 527 (Advanced Computer Architecture) in which I am working on a project to investigate the workload of Deep Neural Networks for self-driving cars and to develop a purposeful benchmark suite to measure hardware performance. This fantastic opportunity becomes a solid foundation for me to be better prepared for my further studies on designing hardware-accelerated, low-power self-driving computing solutions in my graduate career.

As a world-class research university, UBC is also a great platform for students to develop a handful of skills through the involvement of student teams, research activities, and industries. The M.Eng. of ECE at UBC is one of only a few programs across Canada that offer Co-operative education for graduate students as well as providing supervised project (EECE 597) opportunities. I believe making the most of these resources and opportunities will allow me to work with the most talented people and help me be well prepared to do meaningful works in areas including automotive, intelligent transportations, and any other autonomous systems.

I am proud of being an undergraduate student at UBC, a place of mind that empowers us to dream big, learn from extraordinary people, and do great things to serve others. I have always believed that the graduate studies at UBC will elevate my passions and potentials to a whole new level. Thank you for taking the time to review my application.