We got an early start today so we could drive to Limassol for our first company visit at Medochemie! On the way, I enjoyed looking at all the nature scenery– the mountains, cactuses, and flowering trees were very beautiful. I loved catching glimpses of the Mediterranean Sea too, and I was surprised to see the cruise ships anchored in the bay that have been there since COVID started. At Medochemie, we heard from four different company officials about business aspects such as quality control, supply chains, storage, and shipping. I was especially interested in the quality assurance part of the presentation because part of this incorporates biological and chemical principles that I’m interested in as a bioengineering major. I didn’t think about packaging as part of a supply chain before, so I learned more about this and the company’s interactions with the public in the conversation about all the different kinds of packaging the company has to create to serve so many different countries. On our facilities tour, I learned about the differences between fast pick, short pick, and reserve supplies and how different methods of storage can be used at the same time to maximize efficiency. I thought the moving shelves were pretty cool, too.
After Medochemie, we went back to UNIC, where we had lunch in the university cafeteria. I had pasta carbonara and it was really good! It was different from the Perch and the Eatery at Pitt in that everything was priced separately and was served for you, rather than using a meal swipe or paying one standard price to eat at a buffet. After lunch, we went to the Mall of Engomi which was just a five minute walk from the university. We cruised the grocery store to look at all the different kinds of juices and snacks they had and then walked around the rest of the mall. It was much smaller than a typical mall in the US would be, but still had the same sort of stores– clothing stores for children and adults, arcade games, and a food court area.
We went back to the university to hear from an HR representative and game design expert from Wargaming, which is the company behind games such as World of Tanks. I didn’t know much of anything about game development before, so it was very interesting to hear about the entire process of designing a game from the idea to the product. I also enjoyed hearing about how game designers prototype their games just like we learned to do in the Art of Making class I took this spring.
For our free time in the evening, we walked around the old city around the hotel. I got a chicken shwarma sandwich for dinner and strawberry ice cream for dessert. Both were great! I’m excited to keep exploring tomorrow!
