While applying to a masters degree course I had to write an essay of no more than 500 words containing:

1. Personal appreciation about the evolution of my academic and professional activities up to now, avoiding the mere repetition of information already contained in my resume/CV.
2. Succinct description about the reasons I have to take a post-graduation course and what I expect from the course.
3. My expectations regarding the post-graduate course's influences in my future professional activities.
4. Specification of topics of interest, trying to correlate them with the research area of the program I'm applying to.

So far so good.

I have sent my enrollment docs to two of the best universities in the Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil, namely: UFRJ and PUC-Rio. Both of them have the highest assessment grades ( 7 ) conferred by CAPES. CAPES is the Brazilian government agency responsible for the evaluation of post-graduate courses.

I applied for two research areas: Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence.

The essay I'm posting here (English and Portuguese versions) is from the UFRJ enrollment process (Software Engineering one) in which I applied to the Systems and Computer Engineering Program (site in Portuguese).

Now I hope to be called for at least one of these institutions. UFRJ process requires the applicant to take some tests: language test (English) and specifics test (the research area you're applying to) and both counts towards the acceptance.

---

Essay
I have been trying for almost three years now (since the graduation in Computer Engineering in Dec/2007) to apply at work and in my life the content I learned.

I succeeded in my last job at Chemtech because I had a good background provided by the Computer Engineering course. During the course, the disciplines that really caught my attention were those related to software. In this last job experience I could put into practice the theory seen at the university in my first level degree. I participated in several interesting software projects. I found this way the importance of theory in the activities of a computer professional.

My motivation to continue the studies through a masters course exists since I finished the first level degree. Meanwhile, between the graduation and the master's degree, I got a job. One of the reasons that made me quit that job was simply because I wanted to continue studying. I attended great part of the university only studying, which allowed me to have a good performance. Likewise, I wish to attend the masters in full time.

I want to take the post-graduate course to:

1 - Learn and get a deep understanding of the software area;
2 - Improve what I know;
3 - Grow as a computer professional;
4 - Get better opportunities in the job market.

My expectations for the course are the best. I know the the course and institution reputation and I know I can learn a lot. This is my main goal: to learn more and with quality. I am hungry for knowledge!

After the masters and possessing more advanced knowledge, I intend to pursue a career in software. The software engineering market is "young" compared to others and has shown steady growth in recent years. I believe that this market will provide excellent opportunities for the professional who has a post-graduate degree in the area. Money Magazine and Salary.com site rated the area of Software Engineering as the best area to work in 2006. This demonstrates and attests this area's power and influence in the global market. When I mention a career, I think of software companies or even in educational institutions as a teacher/university researcher. Any of these options I choose will satisfy me as a person and as professional. If I decide to go with a software company, I hope to contribute with a deeper view on the aspects involving software projects. Otherwise, I hope to be able to disseminate advanced knowledge in the area, teaching people. Brazil in particular has a deficit of engineers and particularly in the area of software engineering, which is a technology area that adds greater value and therefore contributes more effectively to the growth of our country.

My interest in the area of software engineering is focused on the development of software products. I love writing code, and consequently the programming languages, solve programming problems, study the software tools used in development and all the metrics involved and any possible subject that is related to software engineering.

See:

http://www.leniel.net
http://stackoverflow.com/users/114029/leniel-macaferi

---

Redação
Tenho buscado nestes quase 3 anos de formado em Engenharia de Computação aplicar no trabalho e nada vida o conteúdo que aprendi.

Tive êxito em minha última experiência profissional devido à base proporcionada pelo curso de Engenharia de Computação. Durante o curso, as matérias que mais chamaram minha atenção foram aquelas ligadas a software. Nesta última experiência profissional pude colocar em prática a teoria vista na faculdade. Participei em vários projetos de software interessantes. Constatei dessa maneira a importância da teoria nas atividades do profissional de computação.

Minha motivação para dar continuidade nos estudos através de um curso de mestrado existe desde que terminei o curso de graduação. Neste meio tempo, entre a graduação e o mestrado, consegui um emprego. Um dos motivos que me fez sair desse emprego foi justamente o de querer continuar os estudos. Cursei a maior parte da graduação somente estudando, o que me permitiu ter um bom aproveitamento. Da mesma forma, desejo cursar o mestrado com dedicação exclusiva.

Quero fazer o curso de pós-graduação para:

1 - Aprender e me aprofundar mais na área de software;
2 - Aprimorar o que sei;
3 - Crescer como profissional da área;
4 - Conseguir melhores oportunidades no mercado de trabalho.

Minhas expectativas quanto ao curso são as melhores. Conheço a reputação do curso e da instituição e sei que poderei aprender bastante. Este é o meu principal objetivo: aprender mais e com qualidade. Sou faminto por conhecimento!

Após o mestrado e de posse do conhecimento mais avançado, pretendo seguir carreira na área de software. O mercado de engenharia de software é "jovem" se comparado a outros e tem apresentado constante expansão nos últimos anos. Creio que este mercado proporcionará excelentes oportunidades para o profissional que possui uma pós-graduação na área. A revista Money Magazine e o site Salary.com, classificaram a área de Engenharia de Software como a melhor área para se trabalhar no ano de 2006. Isso mostra e atesta o poder e influência da área no mercado global.Quando menciono seguir carreira, penso em empresas de software ou até mesmo em instituições de ensino como professor/pesquisador universitário. Qualquer uma dessas opções que eu escolher me satisfará como pessoa e profissional. Caso eu siga em uma empresa de software, espero contribuir com uma visão mais ampla sobre os aspectos que envolvem os projetos de software. Caso contrário, espero ter a possibilidade de disseminar o conhecimento avançado na área, ajudando a formar pessoal capacitado. O Brasil em especial tem um déficit na área de engenharia e particularmente na engenharia de software, que é uma área tecnológica que agrega maior valor e portanto contribui de maneira mais eficaz para o crescimento do nosso país.

Meu interesse pela área de engenharia de software é centrado no desenvolvimento do produto de software. Amo escrever código e consequentemente as linguagens de programação, resolver problemas de programação, estudar ferramentas de software usadas no desenvolvimento e todas as métricas envolvidas e qualquer outro assunto possível que seja relativo à engenharia de software.

Veja:

http://www.leniel.net
http://stackoverflow.com/users/114029/leniel-macaferi

This post aims to discuss a recent experience I had. It's is directly related to the problem of governmental and private scholarships in Brazil.

I recently had to stop working in a highly exciting project called GradeBR - Rede Galileu. I just couldn't afford it. I can explain it better.

I wrote a post in which I discuss about the job I had gotten at the Computational Transport Phenomena Laboratory located at the Aeronautics Technological Institute (ITA). I was really motivated. What I had thought for my future was happening. I had gotten a great job opportunity at one of the most prestigious academic institutions here in Brazil. I’ve been planning to go to ITA since college. I had already talked about a master’s degree project and was even flying to meet with Rede Galileu’s work group. I had the first opportunity to travel in an aircraft. Believe it or not, it’s not so usual here in Brazil. Everything was perfect. I was just missing the company of my parents of course.

I started on the job on February 11th, and for almost two months (till April 4th) I didn't receive the scholarship that had been promised. As a matter of fact, I’ve been invited by the laboratory’s lead to go to ITA as I described in this post. There is an old saying that is as follow: if Leniel will not go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Leniel. I think it translates well what happened to me.

The reasons for the scholarship not being granted: pure bureaucracy, corruption and disregard to the development of the Brazilian nation.

I know there are lots of sheets of paper that must be read before the final signature granting the scholarship, but in this case, it wasn't the sheets of paper. The fact is that this scholarship was not from the government but from a private company called Petrobras that is one of the major global oil & gas market players. The scholarship agreement between a private company and a federal institution is established and managed through a Research Foundation that has as its motto: foster the development of projects related to research and development (R&D).

I won’t detail what specifically happened but the reasons I wrote above serve as a start point to think about why my scholarship didn’t take place.

My case is related to a private scholarship. I know people that don’t even have the possibility of getting a scholarship granted by the government. Why that? You may ask. My answer is: actually there is almost no condition of fostering research and development in this country. Because? You may ask. My answer: things were worse, today they are getting better but we still don’t have a serious investment plan to prepare human resources and to finance research and development projects. The rules are so complex that even a PhD professor doesn’t know how to ask a scholarship for his students. There are so many embarrassments. When there’s a scholarship the value paid is incompatible with real life. They only pay you for project related material and trips. They don’t think about the expenses related to relocation, about your daily necessities. They think you’re a research and development slave. In addition, you can’t work on other projects, that is, you must be a full-time researcher receiving a part-time scholarship. Do you get it? The work you do isn’t valued as it should be.

A nation can only grow and give fruits if and only if it has a really well prepared workforce. To have such really well prepared workforce it's necessary to invest in education. Education includes all sorts of knowledge fields, not only research and development, though in this specific post I treat about it.

I particularly like the Wikipedia's definition for Education: "Education means 'to draw out', facilitating realization of self-potential and latent talents of an individual", that is, without education, great part of people can't realize their potential, their talent and consequently the nation doesn't leverage as everyone expects.

It's not surprising that this country "Brazil" has a history marked by corruption and poor education or would it be a history marked by poor education and corruption? I think the former is worst given that is poor education that leads to corruption and all sorts of maliciousness. That's why Brazil is still a underdeveloped country. People grow governed by bad politicians that even don't know how to speak their mother tongue. Again this is a case of poor education. Education was so neglected that the ones that should represent the country don't know how to speak correctly. Can you understand that? It's all a matter of education. Your brain without proper instructions (education) can't do much. It's just like a computer hardware without software. I could develop more into this subject but I won't. I think this is sufficient to pass the message.

Getting back to the main topic: I had to relocate to a different city called São José dos Campos that is 140 miles far away from my parent's home in Volta Redonda. To stay there I had (my parents had) to pay for my lodging, lunch, etc. There's no free lunch at all! Without the scholarship that was previously promised I couldn't continue on the job. So what should I do? I just had to get back home and unfortunately abandon that great project. Was that easy? Surely no.

The people governing this country think that you are a robot researcher without emotions and aspirations.

What rest to comment about it? Oh, that there isn't incentive from the government to give scholarships to the ones that really want to continue their academic studies be it through a Master's degree or even a Doctor's degree. You see, I only could finish my graduation in Computer Engineering because my parents did work hard and set aside some money for my study. That's not easy here in Brazil. The major part of families can't afford a particular college. What is the result? More people without the proper education, more people with latent talents not realizing their potential. This causes sometimes more corruption, that is, without the proper means for achieving what people really want they take another easier paths to get there.

While this story doesn't change, we'll continue to have frustrated plans. Brazil won't change its status quo up to the time that every single person has conditions to study, to acquire the so called culture what will definitely permit that their aspirations be realized.

I'd like to write better words here, but if I did I would be more one liar. For some (the richest ones) everything in Brazil is going fine. The stock market is breaking records and that's just what matter. For others (as is my case) there's no free lunch!

The following list shows each paper I've already published online on this blog plus the post in which I comment about it. The list is chronologically organized.

List updated on 2/09/2009

1. Fortran Numerical Constants Recognizer
   Reconhecedor de Constantes Númericas em Fortran
   http://www.leniel.net/2009/02/fortran-numerical-constants-recognizer.html
2. A Syntactic Analyzer built with the CASE tools Flex and YACC
   Um Analisador Sintático Construído com as Ferramentas CASE Flex e YACC http://leniel.net/2008/04/syntactic-analyzer-built-with-lex-yacc.html
3. Influence of Tonal and Spatial Resolution on the Image File Size
   Influência da Resolução Tonal e Espacial no Tamanho do Arquivo de Imagem
   http://leniel.net/2008/04/tonal-x-spatial-resolution-x-file-size.html
4. Construction and Simulation of a Robot Arm with OpenGL
   Construção e Simulação de um Braço Robótico com OpenGL
   http://leniel.net/2008/02/robot-arm-with-opengl-in-csharp.html
5. Development and Numerical Simulation of Algorithms to the Computational Resolution of Ordinary Differential Equations
   Desenvolvimento e Simulação Numérica de Algoritmos para Resolução Computacional de Equações Diferenciais Ordinárias
   http://leniel.net/2008/02/development-and-numerical-simulation-of.html
6. Linguagem de Pesquisa Integrada à Linguagem de Programação
   http://leniel.net/2008/01/linq-language-integrated-query.html
7. Top-Down Approach in Distributed Databases
   Abordagem Top-Down em Bancos de Dados Distribuídos
   http://leniel.net/2007/12/top-down-approach-in-distributed.html