Hey everyone! My name is Matthew Austin Galaydick. I am a first year student at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering, or SSOE, and I am majoring in Mechanical Engineering. I’m originally from Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, which is right outside of Scranton (yes, that is the place from The Office and I don’t even watch the show).

I’d like to say I am a pretty interesting dude with a wide range of interests. But I’m sure you’re still curious about my title. Let me explain, I have a brief understanding of how airplanes actually work as illustrated in this image: 

I have done some traveling in my life, but only by land, and thus, I have never been on an airplane, so I’m both excited and terrified for all of this flying that will be happening about two weeks.

Some more about me is that my interests range from cars to guitars to photography and film to watches and fashion and even to the outdoors. I plan on carrying my camera with me just about everywhere I go whilst in Germany and I can’t be more excited to show everyone Germany through my lens. I’m also a huge car guy and Audi just so happens to be my favorite so going to Germany is perfect (even if we are visiting BMW).

I’ve always want to travel but study abroad always seemed out of my grasp as an engineer for some reason but when I heard about Plus3 and specifically Germany, I knew it was made for me. My passion for cars is what led my to choose Germany along with my interest in mechanical engineering and my mild interest in business. So moral of the story, I couldn’t be more stoked to be going to Germany!