The weather was gorgeous today! There couldn’t have been a better day for it too.

Our first stop today was a company visit of Hirschvogel, which is a forging and machining company that supplies the first tier automotive industry. An advanced engineer gave us a presentation on how they make their products and their business model. I was really impressed by how ready the company seems to be for the automotive industry to change drastically, due to electric cars or more prevalent car-sharing, as well as the company’s positive view towards automotive CO2 regulations.

Afterwards, we went on a tour of the production plant. I had never seen anything like it before. The hydraulic presses were massive, and the workers were often dealing with red-hot steel rods. At some stations, robots ran the entire process (which makes me very excited for KUKA tomorrow). We saw their giant stockyard of raw steel, and our tour guide told us they go through all of it in an entire week!

But what made the beautiful weather perfect was what we did after Hirschvogel. We got on a bus, drove like half an hour, and we were sitting at the base of the alps. I had never seen mountains before, and I was absolutely blown away – and that was just on the ground.

We went up to the nearest peak in a cable car; we were all packed in like sardines, watching the town get smaller and smaller behind us. On top, the view was absolutely breathtaking.

I think I’ll let the pictures stand for themselves.