College Avenue Student Center

Room 211 Rutgers New Brunswick

New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Dear CSE Faculty:

I am writing to request that you consider my application for candidacy in the Computer Engineering doctoral program. My research advisor is Engr. Ralph Pines. I have satisfied the course requirements for the specified program and have compiled a portfolio of supporting documents that demonstrate my abilities as a researcher.

The attached documents serve as the materials for my written qualifying exam. I have enclosed research papers written in collaboration with members of the Washington University CSE faculty over the past years. These papers were co-authored principally with members of the Pines research group. The first paper, “Algebraic and Combinatorial Methods in Computational Theory”, was co-authored with Elton Presley and John Lemon and was published in Electronics Journal in August 2007.

The second paper, “Algebraic Methods in Lower Bounds for Computational Models with Limited Communication” was done alongside with the same people and published in the elusive Science Magazine in January 2008. It was also cited in the December 2008 issue of Matrix Magazine and was a finalist for the annual Revolutionary Technology Awards in the same year. In April of this year, I was able to finish my latest paper entitled “Approximation and Online Algorithms for Graph Problems”. An unpublished manuscript can be found in my website athttp://www.kurtcodeine.co.tk.

Along with this letter is a transcript listing courses that I have taken at Washington University, along with a summary of how I have used these and/or other courses to satisfy the doctoral breadth requirements.

Sincerely,

Kurt Castro

Download Portfolio Cover Letter