Application Essay for a Ph. D Program

865 Words2 Pages

Striving for perfection is a natural force, which has led mankind to its present state of advancement. Perfection, for me, means enhancing my knowledge in specific field of interest which will enable me to contribute to the advancement of society in general and to deeper understanding of my field in particular. It is with these objectives in mind that I wish to pursue the Ph.D. program in Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSM) at Texas A&M University (TAMU).
Following undergraduate studies in industrial engineering at Seoul National University, I applied my knowledge as an air force officer of the Republic of Korea. As an armament maintenance company commander, I reclassified repair parts to better visualize asset status and increase efficiency. As a result, my company was selected as the best maintenance company of the 10th Fighters Wing in 2010. I was fascinated with the importance of accurately matching supply of repair parts to their demand, and this experience influenced me to pursue graduate studies.
My first research practice which I conducted in the master’s program in industrial engineering at Texas A&M University was journal replication studies under my advisor, Dr. Andrew Johnson. The paper was about measuring managerial practice collected by innovative survey tool. Rather than simply label unobserved heterogeneity fixed effects, the authors developed explicit indicators of managerial practice. Through this replication process, I learned how to set up a model with appropriate assumptions and validate and analyze the results. While converting original Stata code into R to verify the result, I also learned various types of estimation such as OLS, GMM, and Olley and Pakes’s method. Based on this experience, I am curr...

... middle of paper ...

...r ( ) and the rest of the faculty in the department will prove invaluable to furthering my research.
Ultimately, I hope to continue my research as a professor in the U.S. to provide valuable insights to the field of OSM. I would like to contribute to society by making use of my independent research abilities. I strongly believe that the doctoral program at TAMU, with internationally recognized faculty, extensive network of alumni, and rich curriculum that balances conceptual, theoretical, and managerial foundation of OSM, is the most suitable destination for me to pursue further research achievement. I am confident that the skills and experiences I have acquired over the last several years, combined with my determination and enthusiasm for the field, have thoroughly prepared me to succeed in this program. I look forward to continuing my education at a doctoral level.

Open Document