Dear Admissions Officers:

The College of Computer Science of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (or Beihang University) has a proud history of 50 years and is a leader in the teaching and research in computer science and technology among Chinese universities. In Sept. 20XX, Mr. Wu XXX succeeded in entering the College with superb performance during the qualifying exams and he particularly impressed during the interview that several professors and I conducted. As supervisor of his Master’s program, I witnessed the entire process whereby he made rapid growth in his academic study and research over approximately three years. On learning his decision to apply for a graduate program in financial engineering, I consider it a considerable pleasure to support his application by giving him my most unreserved recommendation.

Throughout his program, Mr. Wu has been a high-achieving student. This is largely attributable to his serious attitude and persevering spirit with which he undertook his studies. There are several indicators that can testify to his achievements. In 20XX, Mr. Wu was the sole winner in the entire college to be awarded the “ChengFei” Scholarship in recognition of his distinguished performance. By the time he graduated in April 20XX, he was given the honor of “Outstanding Graduate” for his prominent overall academic performance and his high-quality dissertation. In addition, he worked as my teaching assistant, very successfully helping me deliver the course Computer Architecture to undergraduate students. His contribution lied also in proposing an innovative and bold suggestion concerning how the experiment classes for the course should be conducted. Based on his rich CS knowledge, he suggested that simplescalar, a microstructure simulator, be introduced into experiments. This changed the conventional experiment pattern since 1990’s and developed a new approach of using software simulation technology to realize hardware evaluation.

Now, as I learn that Mr. Wu is planning to venture into the new interdisciplinary field of financial engineering, I feel quite excited. I am happy that he has made a right decision because this can give him ample room for a more significant personal and professional development. According to what I have learned about the rigorous requirements of financial engineering on statistics, mathematics, and computer skills, I believe Mr. Wu’s backgrounds in those fields can fully qualify his application.

In 20XX, I launched the university’s GIS (Geographic Information System) Lab and has since been the director of the Lab. It is well known that GIS usually has to process a massive amount of information which involves huge workload of statistical analysis. Mr. Wu was involved in the project “Design of Beihang University Digital Campus” in which he led the collection of the university’s data over the past decade. By applying the computing tool MapInfo, he and his teammates completed the processing of the metadata. With his network programming skills, he helped complete the Web version of the Digital Campus. In another research project, “The Structure of the Coding System of Beijing Municipal Public Transportation Corporation”, Mr. Wu led the data analysis that was characteristic of the public transportation system. Essentially, coding system and structure is based on a wealth of statistical data from which to develop effective and valid classifications. Mr. Wu made crucial contributions to our project by independently designing the relevant database and completing the coding of the entire software.

As a student of computer science, Mr. Wu possesses outstanding computer programming skills and a sound knowledge in computer architecture and framework. But what I would like to emphasize is his modeling skills and analytical abilities. In the second half of 20XX, our Lab undertook the research project “Vehicle Monitoring System in the City of Guanzhou” in which all the vehicles in the city were to be monitored based on a bulk of real-time GIS data. Mr. Wu was responsible for developing one of the key modules—time-based historical trajectory query and time & space-based historical periods query. In order to enhance the system efficiency, he made careful analysis of the spatiotemporal data model and came up with an improved space-time cube model. Furthermore, he also proposed the time-space query algorithm based on the improved space-time cube model. This improved model has important applications in the management of mobile objects and when our project was put into use, the user highly praised our innovative work.

Last but not least, I would like to mention Mr. Wu’s proactive attitude. During his study at our university, he would seize every available opportunity to acquire knowledge in his field and take the initiative to apply his knowledge to real-world problems. In a collaborative project on “Workflow” with Capital Information Times Co. Ltd., Mr. Wu first led his team in the Lab to study the relevant knowledge before the project actually began. The knowledge covered fundamentals of finance and some computer knowledge like Struts and Hibernate. This early-stage knowledge accumulation laid a firm ground for the smooth progression of the project.

It is my belief that in this age of interdisciplinary studies, many academic disciplines are interconnected, sharing some common borders. As a newly-emerged discipline over the recent years, financial engineering involves new and extensive applications of computer science and technology in the finance industry. I truly appreciate Mr. Wu’s readiness to transcend his limits and to seek new development in his interested area. His choice of a future career in the financial industry is a valid one as China calls for such well-trained financial engineers to meet the challenges of the rapidly developing and changing financial market. I have full confidence in his ability to complete your program based on my close understanding of his intellectual caliber and his outstanding personal qualities. All that I wish him is a successful application and due acceptance into your well-respected program.

Yours faithfully
Wang XXX

Ph. D. & Professor of GIS, Mobile Object Management, Software Engineering, Data Mining
Chief Designer of the Digital Map of University Campus
The College of Computer Science of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Beihang University)