I am interested in studying for a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at The Universiy of British Columbia (UBC) in the field of Computer Graphics. My undergraduate studies were in Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Brazil. I have also a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the same university.
My graduate study was in the field of computer graphics. I had investigated some of the problems related to texture synthesis in computer graphics images. The experience gained from my graduate study has driven my interest to the problem of generating photorealistic pictures in a computer. In a broad sense I would like to investigate the problems arising when making a realistic picture in a computer. My qualifications for such study include mainly my M.Sc., which I concluded with a GPA of 3.67. From the research I had developed during my M.Sc. work I had an article published in a brazilian scientific university journal. Some of my former experiences include a trainee job as a computer science student in Switzerland, assembly programming at DIGICON (brazilian company), research assistant in the Graduate Program on computer science at UFRGS and military service for two years. Right now I am an associate researcher in the Graduate Program on computer science at UFRGS, where I have been improving and applying the results of my M.Sc. work. Besides, I am also a lecturer at ``Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS)'' in Sao Leopoldo, Brazil. At UNISINOS I have been responsible for the Computer Organization course leading to the B.Sc. degree in Computer Science. I am also coordinating a project on Ray-Tracing.
My interest in studying computer science at UBC has been prompted by the well kown computer graphics group working there. Professor Alain Fournier's research is known worldwide, due to his extensive work in realism and natural phenomena. In addition, I believe I fill up completely the requirements that an applicant must have before applying to a graduate course at UBC (TOEFL and GRE to be taken in the next two months). Despite the fact that my B.Sc. degree is in electrical engineering, I have a strong background in computer science from my M.Sc. course. I have taken 30 credits in courses in computer science during my M.Sc. ( a 4-credit course is typically 4 hours of lectures per week for 15 weeks). I have been in touch by e-mail with a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at UBC (Mr. Pierre Poulin) and I believe the research interests of computer graphics group at UBC are very close to my own research interests.
In conclusion, I would like to state that I think I have the required academic ad professional qualifications for Ph.D. studies at The University of British Columbia.