Statement of Purpose Wenbo Huang
"What? Bug what?" I asked the students in laboratory class of “Practice of Microcomputer
System” in which I was a Teaching Assistant during my graduate study.
"Bug-Terminator." They answered. They told me this was my nickname because of my
earnest and effective work on helping debugging their programming assignments in the
class. The TA job which required patience and insight indicated my abilities of addressing
and resolving technical problems as well as upgraded my confidence for the future
academic life of computer science.
However, when I was a novice in the field of computer science just like the students who
called me "Bug-Terminator", the computer world meant considerable limit to me which
was only about typing a series of functions with variables that implementing some
automatic calculations. Fortunately, such little cognition was still able to inspire me of
study and design intensively. In the second year of undergraduate study, I began writing
several programs include small tools, desktop games and personal web pages in C/C++,
Java and Delphi, most of which were designed for my pleasure instead of coursework
requirements. One of the most proud works I made at that time was a “Signup-Helper”
program for an online standardized test which helped me to obtain test admission
automatically and rapidly. Then, I opened the source code on campus forum. What
surprised me a lot is that after several years when I logged on that forum again, many
new visions based on my source code have existed, for example, Signup-Helper for
CET(College English Test), for iBT(TOEFL) etc.
In fact, I did not form an integrated understanding of computer science until I met Prof.
Shen in the course of “The Principle of Microcomputer” in my junior year in college. From
that course I learned that the different sorts of instruction sets, storage systems, operation
Units and I/Os are the key factors defining one computer. During the after-class talk, Prof.
Shen gave me an important concept, balance, which relates to the consideration of time
and space, performance and cost. Based on this thought, I started my study and research
on computer system architecture rather than simply desktop programme. Thus I entered
the Embedded System Lab directed by Prof. Shen in my last year of undergraduate study.
In the lab, I was fascinated with reading the recent published papers and documents of
embedded technology as well as programming on different hardware platforms, for
example ARM, MSP430 and X86.
During my graduate study in Embedded System Lab, I designed several demo programs
for the developer suite of ARM microcontrollers which was used by a lot of education
institutions. Based on my experience and knowledge, I participated in writing two
technical books that published for teaching and promoting microcontrollers manufactured
by TI (Texas Instruments) and ST (STMicroelectronics). Furthermore, I had a chance to
work as an intern in STMicroelectronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. where I learned many
practical skills. Such work fostered my circumspection and rendered me integrated
methods of bottom-layer development.
One of my projects was an Embedded File System. It was designed for improving storage
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Statement of Purpose Wenbo Huang
management of handheld equipments and compatible with FAT. Due to its feature of
embedded application, it provides several visions for different storage mediums including
EEPROM, NAND Flash and SD/MM Card. I also implemented abrasion control in it which
can guarantee the average use of all sections in NAND in order to prolong its life. This
technology was published in my paper. As I skilled in bottom-layer of computer, my desire
for knowledge engaged me in researching in upper-layer, for example, operation systems
and network protocols. Another project I accomplished is named “IP Camera”, which
implemented a digital camera with network functions of Ethernet and GPRS (General
Packet Radio Service) based on ARM. By an embedded SIM card with a cell phone
number, users can write command messages via cell phone to request a photo shot
from this camera immediately and automatically through GPRS connection. In this
camera system, I installed and modified a real-time OS and TCP/IP stack that includes
PPP protocol (for GPRS link) as well as my file system for photo management.
This year, I was in charge of a project about industrial Ethernet technology that includes
the development of a series of data acquisition systems based on Ethernet. Being a
group leader, I managed to make plans, assign tasks and control errors. Besides that, the
biggest part of my achievement is the implementation and optimization of data processing
and transmission, especially the algorithm of FAST TCP, which are contributed to the
almost 80% upgrade in efficiency of data acquisition. One paper about this is completed
and submitted.
Over every-year’s grade points* and the projects I accomplished, it is easy to see my
everlasting progress in study, research, design and analysis, which made me fully
convinced of the challenges and prospects in the area of computer science and sparked
my interest for further research. With my integrated knowledge and rich experience, I can
sketch a clear picture for my future academic life in the field of computer science.
I would like to delve into applications as well as theories of computer architecture,
networks and many related fields. In the long term, I aspire to become a competent
computer researcher, capable of envisioning the frontiers of computer science and taking
the lead in propelling technology progress, as an academic goal, I am craving to be a
valuable member of some core technical groups, presenting new computer architecture
like Harvard structure or RISC, or instituting network protocols like Zigbee which will
trigger a breakthrough in the computer world in a revolutionary way.
The CS Department at UH is a sound match to my personality in that it always stays in
most core areas of computer science and aims at cultivating future elites in these areas.
In the CS Department, I am drawn to the research area of “Computer Systems,
Architecture, and Networking”. Particularly the projects about Real-Time Systems and
Wireless System Research are my prior choices, as these projects will help me
understand what I set foot in before more deeply and are compatible with my own
interests. The doctoral program can surely sustain my pursuit of science while shaping
me into a mature scholar who is capable to promote progress of computer science.
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Statement of Purpose Wenbo Huang
Indeed, I would feel greatly honored to join such wonderful team, working with so many
wise people to realize my academic goal as well as contributing to the team.
______________________________________________________________________
* STATISTICS: My remarkable progress in Grade Points
1) Overall grade points in every period
The Number of A B C D Overall
First Four Semesters 8 (23%) 9 (26%) 18 (51%) 0 (0%) C+
Second Four Semesters 10 (38%) 11(43%) 5 (19%) 0 (0%) B+
Graduate Semesters 15 (89%) 2(11%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) A
All Semesters 33 (42%) 22（28%） 23 (30%) 0 (0%) B+
Overall Grade Points in First Four Semesters Overall Grade Points in Second Four Semesters
D D
C C
B B
A A
0 5 10 15 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Overall Grade Points in Graduate Semesters Overall Grade Points in All Semesters
D D
C C
B B
A A
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
The Proportion of A in Total Grade Points The Proportion of C in Total Grade Points
100 60
90
80 50
70 40
60
50 30
40
30 20
20 10
10
0 0
First Four Semesters Second Four Semesters Graduate Semesters First Four Semesters Second Four Semesters Graduate Semesters
2) Major grade points in every period
The Number of A B C D Overall
First Four Semesters 2 (18%) 5 (45%) 4 (37%) 0 (0%) B-
Second Four Semesters 9 (43%) 8 (38%) 4 (19%) 0 (0%) B+
Graduate Semesters 11 (92%) 1 (8%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) A
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Statement of Purpose Wenbo Huang
All Semesters 22 (50%) 14 (32%) 8 (18%) 0 (0%) A-
Major Grade Points in First Four Semesters Major Grade Points in Second Four Semesters
D D
C C
B B
A A
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 2 4 6 8 10
Major Grade Points in Graduate Semesters Major Grade Points in All Semesters
D D
C C
B B
A A
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 5 10 15 20 25
The Proportion of A in Major Grades Points The Proportion of C in Major Grades Points
100 4.5
90 4
80 3.5
70 3
60
2.5
50
2
40
1.5
30
20 1
10 0.5
0 0
First Four Semesters Second Four Semesters Graduate Semesters First Four Semesters Second Four Semesters Graduate Semesters
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