If you are interested in pursuing a B.S.E. (Bachelor of Science in Engineering) degree, please write an essay describing why you are interested in studying engineering, any experiences in or exposure to engineering you have had, and how you think the programs in engineering offered at Princeton suit your particular interests.

When I was only a small boy, my favourite toy was a Lego set. Lego was a genius game, not because of the rule of the game, but because the game is rooted in the ingenuity of human player. I would scatter those colourful blocks on the floor, mixing them all up. Then I would tiptoed to the centre of that mess and sat down with all the pieces lay around me

While our group was crafting the idea of a geodesic dome shaped greenhouse for the Create2010 competition, we got stuck. While a geodesic dome is normally built from the top down by high cranes, our greenhouse needs to be easily assembled by the farmers. Somehow the thought of the Lego block spopped up in my head. That inspired me to propose the idea of having the greenhouse built from the bottom up with similar blocks that can be combined together as easily as Lego pieces are. Each block contains algae. The amount of algae in the buildings block can alter the amount of sunlight entering the inside, which may be adjusted to create a suitable condition for the crops grown in the greenhouse. The algae can be later turned into fuel. The shape of the geodesic dome helps the air to pass through ventilation fans from any angle to both cool the inside and condense water from the air. Another source of drinkable water comes from evaporated seawater collected in a supporting unit made of old car tyres. The crops are chosen to improve the soil’s fertility in the arid and barren areas, where we want the greenhouse to be built.

After making through the preliminary round, our group prepared for the final presentation. I spent days in the school’s physics lab to build our prototype. Although the prototype was very primitive that merely serves the illustration purpose and to let us see how a geodesic dome will look like. Nonetheless, it takes far longer than I thought to build the model dome. I had to calculate the dimensions for the pieces and made a paper model before making the real prototype with acrylic glass. I shuffled between the pre-season soccer training and the physics lab to try to finalize the prototype and the presentation.

Eventually, we won the first prize of the competition.

It’s difficult to tell what I truly love to do. There is the whole world of opportunities that I have not experienced. I wonder how to know tell whether something is a fleeting attraction or a lasting passion.

It must be something that can keep me invigorated, make me feel restless, make my heart pump faster, make my hands sweat. It must make me feel like as if the opportunity will pass if I don’t start at that moment. That’s my idea of the idea of my dream work for now. That was how I felt while I was working on a 3D model of a dining hall for my computer science class. That was how I felt when the idea of the idea of a greenhouse with the wall filled with algae popped up in my mind.

Many people warned me that it will be difficult to pursue a career in invention or engineering. I believe that it’s true. It’s difficult to think of a new machine or to imagine a whole city. It’s difficult to make others believe that my idea can become reality. It may be true, but I want to spend my youth working on what I love: I want to create things. The path may be tough, but I’m willing to put my mind and my soul to to make something real happen.

Now thinking about my Lego set, I think Lego is such an attraction to so many children because I could feel like I’m able to create anything from a juxtaposed mess of blocks.

I don’t think I can play with a Lego set the same way that I did when I was a small child. Even I may try, but cannot be as unconsciously creative as I was. A huge building used to be able stand on a tiny pole, but now a thought will automatically appear in my mind “Hey. It may not be possible”. A child just cannot wait to leave its first contribution to the world; a child must believe that he or she can make anything happen.

Creativity needs the perspective of a child, someone who is not yet used to the idea of what’s possible and what’s impossible. But I have also learnt that from an idea to a real product, there are a lot of complexities that I need to solve. I’m not always a patient person, and I’m not always fond of playing quizzes, but there are so many moments that I feel so energized when I face the challenges of an engineering project. I love to believe that behind those complexities and messiness, there lays something real that I can piece together.There are so much more I want to study to solve those complexities. I want to make the geodesic dome spring up like an Origami folding, to reduce the number of different blocks needed to make the dome. I want to analyse the stress level in my greenhouse walls, the optimal amount of wind should enter the ventilation holes.

I want to study the size of drainages needed to prevent flooding in a city. I want to study how much water will be blocked by the road in a mountainous area. I want to study to find the answers for so many other questions of mine in the top engineering department in Princeton. With energy and environment at the top of societal problems focused by Princeton University, I believe that I will learn a lot My ambition is to ultimately become the director of my own architecture firm. I hope that I can have an opportunity to benefit from the initiatives to promote entrepreneurship in engineering career in Princeton to materialize my goal. I want to become the overall director to redesign my city and other places in Vietnam and other developing countries.

Four key societal problems set by P

Engineers without borders – Princeton

Entrepreneurship in engineering