I was once asked, “Who is your engineering hero?” and answered perfectly honestly that it is my father. My father ran an auto repair shed in South Vietnam; he repaired and serviced three-wheel taxis and automobiles. People relied on my father to enable them to make a living and feed their children, and he did all he could to ‘keep them moving.’ At the end of the Vietnam War, obtaining the most basic materials or spare parts was either difficult or simply impossible. My father was a self-taught mechanic who was required to demonstrate great skill in problem solving, ingenuity, determination, and originality to do his job daily. He provided me with training in basic engineering that no amount of money can buy and a novelty when approaching problems that have been of great help in my research work.
With engineering being ‘in the blood’ and an informal but high-quality apprenticeship ‘under my belt, I began a successful academic career in engineering. I was awarded a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Vietnam University of Technology in 1994. Subsequently, I obtained a Master’s degree in Management, a B.Sc. in Network and Communication Management, and a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering.
My father not only gave me engineering skills and knowledge, but he was also an excellent teacher, and I have inherited his skill for and love of passing on knowledge to others. I was a volunteer Instructional Student Assistant while undertaking studies for my Master’s in Mechanical Engineering and a Volunteer Tutor at XXXX University when completing my degree there. I have also acted as an enthusiastic and effective tutor for high school students in Math, Physics, and Chemistry. I am excited by each of the program's various components: the opportunity to combine research into the effective teaching of engineering concepts and techniques with the opportunity to teach enthusiastic engineers and to lead original research within a positive and challenging academic environment is precisely what I am seeking.
Through a particular interest in 3D computer-based simulations, I have developed expertise in applying these to enable K-12 and pre-college students to visualize and understand complex physics phenomena and engineering problems. I hope to develop this further within the program. I also believe such simulations have significant further potential for testing concepts and prototypes comparatively inexpensively, and I am very excited to have an opportunity to develop my ideas in this area of work.
I have happily studied, worked, and socialized with people of many cultural and social backgrounds. I am experienced in team working and leading and am considered a friendly person with a well-developed sense of humor which is useful when teaching!
I know that the program will attract many well-qualified applicants. However, I do believe that I am an exceptional candidate. I am a very well-qualified engineer and think that I have demonstrated that I am well able to meet the academic demands of the program; I have been an enthusiastic and effective teacher of science and engineering; I have proven skills and experience in undertaking and leading research projects; my main recommendation is a love of engineering and a great desire to improve many lives by its practical application and also to enthuse others to do so.