Message Us
Timelines.ai
0
Menu

PHD Earth Sciences, Petroleum Engineering Nigeria


I hope to be accepted to graduate study at XXXX University's Earth Sciences Program and earn the MA Degree by writing a thesis, if not the PHD by writing a dissertation. I look forward to contributing to the diversity of your program as a young woman from Africa who was born and raised in Nigeria and could not be more passionate about the Earth Sciences. Now a permanent resident of the USA, last year, 2015, thanks to being awarded a Merck Engineering Scholarship, I was able to complete my undergraduate studies in Chemical Engineering at XXXX in New Jersey - graduating with a GPA of 3.97.</p> <p>Even when I am not studying or working, I spend much of my free time imagining a world with more efficient ways of adsorbing impurities from hydrocarbon and proactive ways to better refine crude oil. This is because my ultimate goal in life is to make the world a better place, especially for future generations, by making important contributions to the design of increasingly efficient energy systems and sustainable technologies.

Houston is my first choice because it is not only home to incredible human and cultural diversity but most of all because it is such an important international center for the energy industry. NASA and the Planetary Institute also draw earth and space scientists that I hope to learn from. XXXX University is my first choice for graduate study for many reasons including the fact that you draw prominent earth scientists to your university and support them for extended research visits. I appreciate the way that your curriculum is highly interdisciplinary and customized to individual interests and strengths as this will enable me to focus much of my research on the area that I know best and in which I hope to make my greatest contribution to our field in the future: the many complex environmental challenges facing Nigeria in particular. The areas that I know best so far and seek to advance are Petrology, Sedimentology, high and low temperature Geochemistry, Environmental Geochemistry, and Seismology. Thus, I have special appreciation for the vast diversity of tools and research facilities that are available at XXXX.

Since May of 2015, I have been fulfilling an Effective Teacher Fellowship ACP at HISD, Houston, Texas, teaching Mathematics 7-12. Thus, I am already well established in the Houston area and have been making most valuable contacts and building local networks for some time now. Studying at Rice would enable me to fulfill my central dream of earning a professional degree at one of the world’s best Earth Science programs.

My chemical engineering undergraduate degree exposed me to the basics of chemical plant design and I now see earning an advanced degree in Earth Sciences as the perfect direction in which to make professional advancement; and acquire cutting-edge research silks while I master state-of-the-art technology; so as to make the Earth a better, more sustainable place to live.

My favorite subjects in high school were science and mathematics, the more I came to understand, the more I loved both areas. I have always been very optimistic about learning with an insatiable thirst for research. For me, the will power of innovation is to question every assumption, base one’s belief only on solid evidence, and most of all do groundbreaking research. I chose to begin in chemical engineering because of its foundational relevance for the technological needs of our global economy.

I began my undergraduate study at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, where I studied various courses like heat transfer, fluid mechanics, mass transfer, transport phenomena, process dynamics, chemical reaction engineering, and energy economics management, introducing me to various theoretical concepts and methods which are widely used in chemical, oil and gas and pharmaceutical industries. I later transferred and completed my undergraduate degree at XXXX where I was also able to gain real world experience. My interest in bioengineering was especially ignited when I supported vaccine manufacturing operations at Merck &amp; Co pharmaceuticals. During my co-op term at Infineum USA L.P. I analyzed sludge samples from the VH-Engine test to aid in developing motor oils with better deposit control. I also worked with data from the Mack T-13 Engine test to determine optimum oil formulations for heavy duty engines and involved in a mix of theoretical and experimental research geared towards the design of better dispersant molecules for use in engine motor oils.

My exposure to industry thus far has made me highly motivated and committed to developing sustainable solutions to real world chemical engineering problems. I know a lot about process systems modeling and optimization, bioengineering, efficient supply chain and logistics systems’ emission control in heavy duty engines, and optimizing the flow behavior of polymer solutions.

I am quite confident that if selected for your competitive program that I would excel and distinguish myself as a result of my great tenacity that defies the odds in coursework, analysis, teamwork, interpersonal communications and the general aptitudes that contribute to ultimate success in industrial engineering. I am especially inspired by the fact that the geosciences have the lowest level of diversity of all the STEM fields at all levels of higher education; with only a small handful of black professors. Thus, I am struck by the idea that as an African woman I would be a positive role model for attracting students of the future to study in the Earth Sciences in an inclusive fashion; especially black students, girls as well as boys. Someday, I would like to have my labor recognized as a tenure track faculty member in the Earth Sciences. Blacks make up less than 1% of the total number of students that have earned PHDs in the Geosciences in the USA; there is much room for improvement.

I would like to specialize in petrology. I have had exposure to a number of analytical techniques such as UV-VIS Spectroscopy, TAN evolution, real time FTIR, GC-MS and NMR, the Laser Diffraction Particle Size analyzer, operation of Datacon And Wirebond machines used in the manufacture of low pressure sensors, wire ignition experiments and Differential Scanning Calorimetry. Highly experienced at data analysis, I also know a lot about mathematical modeling.

I thank you for considering my application to Earth Sciences at XXXX.

 
 
 

Go Back