I am a third year master major in automation at Shanghai Jiao Tong University， P. R. China.
With tremendous interest in Industrial Engineering，
I am writing to apply for acceptance into your Ph.D. graduate program.
Education background
In 1995， I entered the Nanjing University of Science & Technology (NUST)
widely considered one of the China’s best engineering schools.
During the following undergraduate study， my academic records kept
distinguished among the whole department. I was granted First Class Prize every semester，
and my overall GPA(89.5/100) ranked No.1 among 113 students. In 1999，
I got the privilege to enter the graduate program waived of the admission test.
I selected the Shanghai Jiao Tong University to continue my study
for its best reputation on Combinatorial Optimization and Network Scheduling
where my research interest lies.At the period of my
graduate study， my overall GPA(3.77/4.0) ranked top 5% in the department.
In the second semester， I became teacher assistant that is given to talented
and matured students only. This year， I won the Acer Scholarship as the one and
only candidate in my department， which is the ultimate accolade for distinguished students
endowed by my university. Presently， I am preparing my graduation thesis and trying for
the honor of Excellent Graduation Thesis.
Research experience and academic activity
When a sophomore， I joined the Association of AI Enthusiast
In 1999， I joined the distinguished Professor Yu-Geng Xi's
research group aiming at Network flow problem solving and Heuristic
algorithm research. Soon I was engaged in the FuDan Gene Database Design.
My duty was to pick up the useful information among different kinds of gene
matching format. Through the comparison and analysis for many heuristic algorithms，
I introduced an improved evolutionary algorithm -- Multi-population Genetic Algorithm.
By dividing a whole population into several sub-populations， this improved algorithm
can effectively prevent GA from local convergence and promote various evolutionary
orientations. It proved more efficiently than SGA in experiments， too.
In the second semester， I joined the workshop-scheduling research in Shanghai
Heavy Duty Tyre plant. The scheduling was designed for the rubber-making process
that covered not only discrete but also continuous circumstances. To make a balance
point between optimization quality and time cost， I proposed a Dynamic Layered
Scheduling method based on hybrid Petri Nets. The practical application showed that
the average makespan was shortened by a large scale. I also publicized two papers
in core journals with this idea. Recently， I am doing research in the Composite Predict
of the Electrical Power system assisted with the technology of Data Mining for Bao Steel.
I try to combine the Decision Tree with Receding Optimization to provide a new solution
for the Composite Predictive Problem. This project is now under construction.
Besides， In July 2000， I got the opportunity to give a lecture in English in Asia Control
Conference which is one of the top-level conferences among the world in the area of control
and automation. In my senior year， I met Prof. Xiao-Song Lin， a visiting professor of
mathematics from University of California-Riverside， I learned graph theory from him for
my network research. These experiences all rapidly expanded my knowledge of English and
the understanding of western culture.
I hope to study in depth
In retrospect， I find myself standing on a solid basis in both theory and experience，
which has prepared me for the Ph.D. program. My future research interests include: Network
Scheduling Problem， Heuristic Algorithm research (especially in GA and Neural network)，
Supply chain network research， Hybrid system performance analysis with Petri nets and
Data Mining.
Please give my application materials a serious consideration. Thank you very much.