Pitt Plus3 Program

Day 8: Google HQ or the YMCA?

This afternoon we visited the Google Headquarters in Dublin. Due to the immense size of Google’s office spaces we saw only a fraction of their buildings. I was most amazed by the aspects that made the office seem more like a home or community center. There are gyms, pools, restaurants, and even a store with…

What I learned: Engineering kids like automation

We started our busy day at Webasto, a German company that mainly specializes in roofing systems. They were kind enough to greet us with pretzels (probably the fourth one I’ve had so far since I got here, no complains though) and coffee to wake us up. We had an initial presentation to talk about financials…

Knowing your Network

“Network with intention.” These are the words that I will remember most from Rob Cullen’s presentation today about networking. The number of times I have heard from people that I need to start networking must be entering the thousands at this point. But, despite its importance, it is hard to know where to start, and…

Business first, class field trip second

It was time for our first company visit and to really start the ”business trip”. The jetlag was still somehow present but it did not stop us from waking up early and properly fuel up at breakfast downstairs. Everyone showed up in their business casual and marked the official start of the study abroad experience….

Day 9, Networking Tips

Today’s speaker Rob Cullen was so interesting and his presentation was very contemporary to many of our current lives. Networking is extremely important to help get internships, jobs, and open doors for future opportunities. Two of the best practices in networking are to be concise and be comfortable with talking to strangers. Many working professionals…

First Full Day!

The first day’s itinerary was filled, starting with a visit to the University of Augsburg followed by variety of cultural activities. Before getting the day started, I had breakfast at the hotel and was able to experience German breakfast for the first time, which mainly consisted of a wide variety of high quality bread, cold…

Bye Georgina!!

Today we visited the Turkish occupied area of Cyprus. Georgina first showed us around the ghost town are of the occupied side of the city. It was really sad to see how worn down the once bustling town was. The whole occupied area definitely had a different, almost eerie feeling, than the city of Nicosia….

Day 9 Was Divine

Yiasas! Day 9 was absolutely divine. We finally went to the Northern side of Cyprus! We started at the old part of Famagusta which was a ghost town. It was crazy to see all of the abandoned buildings and hear about the history. This part of Famagusta became a ghost town after the Turkish invasion….

Coffee Growing Cooperative

When talking about coffee growing companies, there is actually a potential alternative to just a single corporation, and that’s with cooperatives. That is, when a large group of individual coffee growers band together to form a sort of unified collective. The benefits of this is that there’s a certain safety net that each member has…

Day Nine in Cyprus

Day nine of Cyprus was a great excursion-filled day. We spent the day traveling to the Turkish side of Cyprus. Georgia pointed out the many British and Turkish outposts which I thought were very interesting. Going through the checkpoint into the Turkish side was a little stressful and unlike anything I had encountered before. Hearing…

Day 9: trip to the turkish side

Same morning routine, earlier day. We had to be prompt this morning because we were crossing the border to the Turkish side of Cyprus today. We picked up Georgia and headed towards the checkpoint. It was another very informative bus ride as Georgia explained different sites and the history behind where we were going. We…

The Turkish Region

Today we traveled to the Turkish region of the island of Cyprus. The Turkish region covers the North-Eastern part of the island. After traveling through the city, we headed to the beach for a few hours. Then we visited the sea caves and a land bridge to take pictures. The country of Cyprus became independent…

Great Beach Day

Today was a very interesting day. In the morning we drove towards famagusta and visited the Ghost Town. This was a town that was bombed in 1974 during Turkeys Invasion. The area used to be the most popular and beautiful beach in Cyprus but now there are only destroyed and unused buildings. After this we…

Day 9: Famagusta

Today we made our way to the Turkish side of Cyprus past the border towards the abandoned ghost town of Famagusta. Famagusta used to be the biggest tourist location on the island before Turkey overtook the city in 1974 leaving the many Greek Cypriots to evacuate and any who attempted to return were killed. Many…

‘Brew’tiful Cooperation!

As we are nearing the end of our trip we had only one more business trip left. A unique farm that was very different from the rest of our visits. Dota, a coffee cooperative of multiple farms in the local area that had decided to work together in order to keep up with competition. This…

Day 8: the future is digital

Today, we had meetings all day with various companies and professors at UNIC. The first company we met with was the Fleet Management Company. They are based in Hong Kong and manage over 600 vessels. Their Cyprus branch manages 35 different shipping vessels. I thought it was really cool to be able to talk to…

Discovering the perfect blend at Coppedota

At our final company visit today, we toured Coppedota Café Privilegios Santa Maria de Dota. We have toured many coffee plantations these past two weeks, however Dota differs from the rest as it is a cooperative. This means that it has many producers, specifically 900, that all contribute to the production and decisions of the…

Day 9: Collapsing buildings and Caves

We had to meet at 7:45 this morning (15 minutes earlier than usual) because we were crossing the border into the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus. We had no business meetings today which was really nice because it meant I could wear something without having to make sure it was business appropriate. After we made…

Checkin’ the Quota at Dota

Being a cooperative, Dota has coffee beans sourced from all around the Tarrazú region. Two advantages of this are that their plants are scattered around far enough away to avoid a catastrophic outbreak of disease, and it is easier for each small scale farmer to produce a quality harvest of coffee. However, there is difficulty…