Abhishek Ray

At. 307, 118 Waterloo St.

Rapid City, SD- 57701
(605) 209-1781
March 4, 2016
Engineers Scientist Abroad
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
501 E Saint Joseph St.
Rapid City, SD- 57701
Dear Michael Mansfield,
I instantly knew that I had to be involved with ESA when I had a brief chat with you at the Student
Org Fair. Giving back to the society is one of my prime goals in life and I was absolutely thrilled to
learn that ESA could be the link between my knowledge and someone benefitting from it in some
corner of the world.
Growing up in India, whenever I would go to the countryside villages of West Bengal to visit with
my grandparents, I would always complain about those areas not having twenty four hours electric
supply. But as I grew older I realized the magnitude of this problem that is prevalent over many rural
corners of India and in fact this scene resonates in other parts of the world too. Gaining all this
knowledge from my college education is of no value to me if I cannot use it to make a difference in
others lives. Therefore addressing issues like these at the very grass root level would give me a lot of
satisfaction. This project would be a great opportunity to see Chile at the same time as I am fulfilling
my duty to benefit the people living at the facility in Vicuna. I have heard stories about Chile and
other South American countries from my father during his time of employment in those countries.
Being an international student it is pretty hard to land up with an internships here in the US, thus this
trip would help me gather invaluable experience which would help me a lot.
Having taken CBE 485/585 Renewable and Sustainable Energy, really gave me an insight into solar,
thermal, nuclear and other renewable sources of energy, in depth. Thus I feel I can offer a little more
knowledge in the design part of the solar panel. I would also consider myself adept at respectfully
communicating with people who do not share the same cultural background as me because I have
been doing that for the past seven years.
Thank you for putting up this project and giving me the opportunity to be a part of it. I hope that you
would find my skills and knowledge appropriate enough to be part of the eight person team that gets
to go to Chile.
Sincerely,
Abhishek Ray