Joining Imperial
Before joining Imperial College London for the MSc in Control and Optimisation, I completed my undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering.
Pursuing a postgraduate degree in the field of Control was a natural progression for me, as I wanted to deepen my knowledge and skills in a more specialised area.
During my undergraduate study, I had an experience where I needed to tune parameters to improve the performance of a system. Although I was able to achieve my goal through trial-and-error, I realised that I lacked a deeper understanding of the theory. This experience piqued my interest in control theory. I thought that a Master's in the field would equip me with the knowledge and skills I need to design and optimise complex systems and enable me to develop my passion for mathematics and applying these skills to real-world problems.
Choosing Imperial
When choosing a university for my Master’s I considered three things.
Firstly, I wanted to make sure that the university had a suitable course for me. The MSc in Control and Optimisation at Imperial was just that, providing a good balance between research and practical training.
Secondly, I also wanted my university of choice to have a good track record for getting their graduates into good jobs.
And finally, I wanted to find a university that was in a cool city with lots of stuff to do. University life is more than just studying, you should have some fun too! Those were the big things I looked at when choosing where to study at.
The coursework was the most rewarding part of the MSc course. It gives insights into how control theories could be used in engineering problems. Among all the coursework I did, I’d like to mention the one in the Predictive Control module. Key techniques for solving this coursework were embedded in weekly assignments. We got to familiarise how to devise abstract mathematical models, choose cost functions and how to analyse different methods.
Advice for prospective students
After finishing my Master's course, I started doing research as a PhD student. I also received a job offer before graduation, but after consideration, I thought it would be better to spend some more time on the research topic that I am interested in. Currently, my research focuses more on the consensus control and optimisation part, and I am enjoying my PhD journey.
For students who really enjoy the modules they are studying and have built strong interest in this area, my advice would be to talk to their professors and see if professors’ research interests align with their own.
This can help them figure out if they want to pursue a PhD or not. For those who are not sure what to do after their Master's, they should seek advice from their personal tutors and attend careers fairs.