STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Sriharsha V Aradhya, IIT Madras, Chennai, India

Applying to the Applied Physics program (Ph.D.) at the Division of Engineering & Applied Sciences
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Harvard University

the greatest engineer is not the man who is trained merely to understand machines and apply formulas, but
is the man who, while knowing these things, has not failed to develop his breadth of view and the highest
qualities of his imagination. No creative work, whether in engineering or in art, in literature or in science, has
been the work of a man devoid of the imaginative faculty.
- George Ellery Hale

In this era when great research always combines traditional domains of expertise to create
new solutions, I see Harvard University as the best place for such pursuits. The area that I am
interested in is micro- and nanotechnology; specifically - Nanoscale devices,
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and Micro/Nano fluidics. While some may use
these words with just a popular fascination, I recognize them as the most promising technologies for
the future, through my involvement in fruitful research, in addition to courses. And it is this future
that I want to be a part of, through Harvards graduate program in Applied Physics leading to
a Ph.D.

My first such major experience was through the prestigious all-India JNCASR (Jawaharlal
Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research) Summer Research Fellowship, for which only
thirty people are selected from across the country. I conducted experimental work (Visualization
of turbulent, free convection by laser-induced fluorescence) at the Fluid Mechanics laboratory of
the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) under Prof. Jaywant H Arakeri (an alumnus of the
California Institute of Technology). It was also during this period that I heard a talk by the
celebrated Prof. C.N.R. Rao (Honorary President, JNCASR), for the students of this fellowship. His
conviction, rationale and pioneering research work encouraged me to explore the field of
nanotechnology, while the inherent interdisciplinary nature of this area seemed a perfect fit to my
interest in Physics, Chemistry and Engineering.

Chemistry and Physics have always fascinated me and I am happy to have had the
opportunity of competing with the best minds at the Olympiads and also the pleasure of winning
several awards, including being placed in the National Top 1% in Physics and Award of
Excellence and Best in Experimental Section awards in Chemistry. It is with this background
that I decided to pursue a minor in Chemistry at IIT. The courses in the chemistry minor and my
electives in physics have been some of the highlights of my study at IIT. They have also proved
seminal in developing my interdisciplinary research interests, which I immediately started exploring
the next summer.

I executed my Industrial Internship at the GE Global Research Center in the Micro and
Nano Structures Technologies lab (I was also the only one in my department to receive the all-India
Young Engineering Fellowship, which I unfortunately had to forgo). The highlights of my
research at GE were the results two patent disclosures and a publication within three
months, which led to my winning GE Global Researchs Best Intern Award.

The patent disclosure for a novel MEMS based flow sensor, with applications in critical
healthcare systems, has already been rated to file at GE. I also analyzed the issue of fluid-structure
interaction at this length scale and published the findings as lead author (Sriharsha Aradhya and
Parag Thakre, MEMS Flow sensor: Design and Modeling Challenges, GE Technical
Information Series). The other patent disclosure is for a Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)
based micro-Chemical Sensor with applications in trace contaminant measurement. I
concurrently worked on this project because its multidisciplinary nature interested me. My stay at
GE was also extended so that I could setup a basic SPR experiment.
 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Sriharsha V Aradhya, IIT Madras, Chennai, India
Applying to the Applied Physics program (Ph.D.) at the Division of Engineering & Applied Sciences
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Harvard University

During these pursuits, I have had to overcome several challenges and I am happy to have
had some enriching experiences along the way. These have included pursuing research outside IIT
and leading a group of interested students for having the chemistry minor offered for the first time.
The same enthusiasm has been recognized by my department, which has granted my proposal
resulting in the only interdepartmental B.Tech thesis through the Mechanical Engineering
department. I have now started my work on nanomaterials and devices jointly under Prof. T
Pradeep (Chemistry Department) and Prof. Raghu Prakash (Mechanical Engineering).

During graduate study, I intend to involve myself in the construction and research of Micro
and Nanoscale devices. While is MEMS a great technology by itself, it is also a crucial interface for
probing the nano-scale. Ultimately, I want to explore nanotechnology and its applications, as it
opens up a world of wholly different physical phenomenon, transcending the miniaturization
paradigm. Research groups at Harvard exploring such areas as NEMS, chemical detection and
manipulation at the Nanoscale are extremely exciting, and suit my interests perfectly. I believe that I
can combine my interests and background in both theory and experimental work to contribute to
research in these groups. I also believe that Nanotechnology holds the key to many of the big social
issues like energy and health. Therefore, I would like to work on problems that are of such
fundamental importance.

Beyond graduate study, I want to pursue a career in research and entrepreneurship in this
area and create new technologies and products. To this end, the focus of Division of Applied
Science and Engineering, right from its organization to its spirit geared towards research without
boundaries, convinces me that there will be an excellent match of my interests and abilities with the
research at the division. Also, Harvards thrust on innovation and entrepreneurship, through its
legendary business school and otherwise, leads me to believe that it is indeed the best place for my
graduate study.

I have realized that my interdisciplinary interest not only allows the pursuit of my own
interests, but it also enables me to communicate effectively with scholars from several traditional
disciplines. Thus, in accord with Hales eloquent words, I wish to expand my breadth of view
through fruitful collaborations with the best minds from different fields during graduate study. And
to do this, Harvard is, quite simply, the best place in the world.

The abstracts of my projects can be found at: www.geocities.com/sriharshava

Other details can be found in my resume at: www.geocities.com/sriharshava/resume.html