ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my supervising professor Dr.Guillermo Ramirez for constantly motivating and encouraging me, and also for his invaluable advice during the course of my master’s thesis. I wish to thank Dr.John Matthys and Dr.Ali Abolmaali for their interest in my research and for taking time to serve on my thesis committee. I would like to submit my respects to my parents and their unwavering support during these times. I would like to thank Sriram for helping me with LATEX. Finally, I would like to thank all those who knowingly or unknowingly aided me all these times