Quote:
Originally Posted by lapka
Sorry, should have thought about it myself.
Application as modelling and simulation expert XXXXXXX
Dear Sir or Madam,
My fascination with mathematical modelling of the real world started in school and continued throughout my study of math (diploma in numerical solution of partial differential eqiuations) and physics (diploma and PhD in theoretical solid state physics).
The theme of mathematical modelling continues in my positions in industry. 90% of my time as RD senior engineer at XXXXXXX was dedicated to CFD simulations of plant processes. I worked with Fluent, openFoam and Barracuda. Examples of CFD projects I worked on are: fluidized and fixed bed reactors, efficiency and scale-up of a gas cooler, distribution of mass flow and pressure for the correct dimensioning of equipment, mixing of slurry in a sedimentation reactor and efficiency of cyclons. In my last project at XXXXXX one of my tasks was calculating the distribution of sugar in a complicated geometry reactor with rheologically non-linear filling. I am familiar with a variety of different metallurgic processes and reactors from rotary kiln to the newest one of its kind - HISMELT - a reactor for iron smelting. During my work at XXXXXXXXX I have spent a few months as a consultant in Kwinana at the HISMELT plant.
The validaion, interpretation and presentation of the results was another part of my duties. I am familiar with Gambit, snappyHexMesh and DesignModeller for net generation. I have used Paraview, Python scripts and built-in Fluent tools for postprocessing.
The position at XXXX is extremely interesting to me since it offers a possibility to apply all my knowledge with further career opportunities in an international environment.
with kind regards Dr. lapka
Not an English thing, but if at all possible, find out who the hiring manager is and address that person rather than a generic Sir or Madam.
Most people in America refer to the certificates you get for completing college-level and higher work as "degrees" rather than "diplomas," the latter of which is reserved for high school. This may be different in Europe, however.
"The theme of mathematical modelling continues in my positions in industry." This just reads as a boring sentence to me. Consider something like, "I took my training to industry, where 90%..." or "I put my training to work in industry, where 90%..." As an bonus, it is technically incorrect to start a sentence with a number, but writing out "Ninety percent" is also nitty and awkward, so I generally prefer to restructure the sentence so I can use the number and not have it at the beginning. The above examples are both more active sentences and solve the 90 problem.
Does the job ad use "CFD" as an abbreviation multiple times itself? If so, using only CFD and all your other acronyms may be OK, but you might consider writing out what it stands for the first time and then using the abbreviation.
"Dimensioning." I didn't think this was a real word, but it does have a wikipedia entry, and you appear to be using it more or less correctly. You might consider "sizing" but if "dimensioning" is routinely used in your line of work, then it's fine.
In your list of projects, how many of those are directly analogous to what is specified as necessary in the job ad? If the answer to that question isn't "all of them," then I'd definitely trim the list to 2-3 things.
"I am familiar with a variety of different..." This is another weak statement, unless the job ad specifically lists that they want "familiarity" (they use the word) with a variety of unspecified metallurgic things. It seems more likely to me that they want experience in something in particular, because it's most likely they need someone to do just that. I would just state what you have that matches what they want, or that matches most closely with what they want.
"The position at XXXX is extremely interesting to me since it offers a possibility to apply all my knowledge with further career opportunities in an international environment." This is another weak statement. Generally, people hiring other people don't give a **** how good the job is for the applicant. They care about how good the applicant will be for the job. I would think about rewriting this about how effective you will be for them, like "My extensive experience with [mathematical modeling and metallurgical whatever] will let me get up to speed quickly and working effectively as a ________ at XXXXXXXXXXXX." That's not a great sentence, but I think it's a better starting point.
This isn't a lot of English correcting as it is cover letter writing help, but hopefully it helps.